Expert: Jamie Yocono - 10/4/2009

Question
water spilt on wood veneer table, now it has little tiny bubbles and feels rough, is there a way to flatten it out again?

Answer
Carol,

Sometimes, you can work a little glue under the veneer, and then clamp it down with something over it, like a scrap piece of wood, to hold the veneer flat while drying. When it's dry, it should stay flat.

I couldn't understand if the bubbles were in the finish, or in the wood veneer. Either way. once the glue has dried, you will probably need to sand that area a little bit. The water could have raised the grain of the wood, and that might be what you're feeling. I would recommend that you sand it with fine steel wool, to eliminate those bubbles. Try not to do too much sanding, or you risk having an area on your table top that doesn't match the rest of the table. You're just trying to eliminate the rougher feel, not remove the finish.

When you clamp the veneer down, make sure you use something like wax paper between your table veneer and the scrap piece of wood you're using to clamp it flat. If you don't use a paper in between them, you could possibly glue the two together.

What would be worse - having some bubbles in your veneer, or having a scrap block of wood permanently glued to your top!?! Yikes!

I hope this helps, write back if you need more advice. Good luck.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com
My woodworking blog: www.wooditis.blogspot.com