For years we have had pre-glued edging tape (both plastic and real wood.) With large veneers you added your own glue. Now you can find large sheets of pre-glued heat-activated real wood veneers called CEDAN Tenderized Wood Veneer Sheets. Do they work? Yes, but not as easily as you might like.
Actually they suffer from the same problem as the edge tapes. When the glue on these is heated onto a bare wood surface, much of it just gets lost into the surface of the wood and the wood may not heat up enough to grab this glue. Also if the surface is not absolutely smooth, the gluing area is not as large as it could be. So, often, the edge trim comes loose with time. You get the same problem with the large veneers. In addition, they tend to pop up if you apply a water-based stain or finish because the wood swells up, creating more stress than the glue can take.
The solution is the same for both the edge trim and the large sheets. Prime the surface with contact cement. When I say ?prime,? I mean, sand the surface smooth to 120 grit paper, apply a coat of either water-based or solvent-based contact cement and let it dry for a day or more -- totally dry, not tacky at all. Keep in mind that all contact cement can be reactivated with heat. So when you use heat to apply the new veneer, the new glue will now bond with the old primed glue which has really soaked into the wood. Now you have a bond that will stay put.
The manufacturers want to make it just one step too easy by telling you to just add heat. Once you?ve primed the surface with contact cement, you can then ?just add heat? and you will have no problems later on.
These large veneers are supplied by Richelieu Hardware to stores across the country.