Veneer & Inlay Repair

Veneer damage is one of the most common issues on older furniture, and one of the most fixable when caught before it worsens. Lifted or bubbled veneer, chipped edges, water damage along a tabletop border, or missing sections from a moved piece are all repairable without replacing the whole surface.

Common veneer and inlay issues

• Lifting or bubbling: Veneer separates from the substrate due to age, humidity swings, or old glue failure. This is often the easiest fix — re-adhering the existing veneer rather than replacing it.
• Missing or chipped sections: Corners, edges, and drawer fronts take the most physical wear. Missing pieces are patched with veneer matched for species, grain pattern, and thickness.
• Water and heat damage: Rings, bubbling, or delamination from moisture or heat exposure, which can affect both the veneer and the glue bond underneath it.
• Marquetry and inlay: Decorative inlay — bandings, medallions, contrasting-wood patterns — requires matching not just species but the specific piece’s color and figure, since inlay is meant to read as a deliberate pattern rather than a repair.

Our approach

Wherever possible, we re-adhere original veneer rather than replace it — original material always matches better than new veneer, even carefully selected new veneer. When replacement is unavoidable, we select veneer for species, cut (flat, quarter, or rift), and color as close to the original as the source material allows, then blend the finish so the seam is not visible at normal viewing distance.

Honest tradeoffs

A repair on badly water-damaged or structurally failed veneer will show some evidence under close inspection or raking light, even when well executed — we won’t claim invisibility we can’t deliver. For heirloom or high-value pieces where an exact grain match matters most, we’ll walk through the tradeoffs with you before starting rather than after.