A sure way to recognize wood laminate is when the grain does NOT follow through your piece. Wood Veneer is a sheet or thin layer of 'quality-natural-hardwood' that is adhered to a lesser quality wood surface. Wood Veneers give the impression of a more desired quality wood without being as costly.
If the underside of the furniture you are inspecting has a grain that looks completely different than the top, then it's a veneer. Top and bottom veneer pieces are made from two different pieces of wood, meaning they won't match.
Laminate flooring will have a repeating pattern. It may not be obvious right away, but that's only because you're not looking for it. If you stare long enough, you will likely find boards with the same wood grain. Hardwood flooring is made from solid wood, so every board will be different.
Whereas laminates are hard and inflexible, most vinyls are soft and flexible. So, vinyl flooring can tolerate floors that are sloped or have humps in it. The vinyl will just go right on top of it.
The wood composite core gives laminate a more realistic wood feel and touch than vinyl plank. And, with modern printing techniques, it can look quite realistic and close to the real thing. Vinyl plank, on the other hand, is made of vinyl, or plastic.
You can often tell the piece is laminate due to the manufactured appearance of the wood grain. Higher-end laminate pieces have a slightly more realistic look, but it's not the same as a piece made from real wood.
Laminate Cabinets
This process leaves a completely smooth surface that does not show any seams. The lack of seams around the door's joints can be a clear indication that your cabinet doors are a laminate material.
The easiest way to identify real wood furniture is by its weight. Real wood weighs significantly more than its artificial counterpart. The solid construction of a real wood piece is not only more durable but also much more sturdy.
If you feel the surface, hardwood typically has texture and grains, while laminate is hard, glassy, and has a plastic feel to it.
Xylorix Inspector is an automated macroscopic wood identification mobile app. Given the 24x magnified anatomical visual information of the cross section (end-grain) of a timber, Xylorix Inspector uses its trained artificial intelligence models to identify the timber genus/species in a few seconds.
If the veneer is in good condition and isn't chipping… you can sand, prime, and paint like you would any piece of furniture.
What is Engineered Wood? Solid wood products are single pieces of kiln-dried timber cut from trees and subsequently milled into planks. We regularly find solid wood products in all kinds of home furniture, solid flooring, and exterior cladding. Engineered wood, on the other hand, consists of multiple layers of ply.
Check the edges of the doors and drawers. If they are solid wood, you'll see end grain on the tops and bottoms. If they're engineered, you'll see edging material with a longitudinal wood grain, which looks unnatural.
Cabinet brands that belong to the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) will have a sticker on the back side of the sink door or side wall of the cabinet. On the sticker there should be a code or the cabinetry name in the middle of the label.
Of the three materials, Plywood is the best option for cheap kitchen cabinets. While you can still get nice MDF or particleboard cabinets, we would say to look for plywood. Our least expensive cabinets are plywood boxes with solid wood doors. They are quality construction for a cheap price.
Veneered furniture can be high quality if the underlying wood is solid—just look at the pieces from the 50s and 60s that are still going strong. Veneer is also often the only option for some fine furniture features like curved drawers, bookmatching to create a unique pattern or using an expensive, exotic wood species.
Durability. Both vinyl and laminate flooring are extremely durable. Laminate usually lasts for up to 20 years, while vinyl flooring typically comes with a 15+ year warranty. However, you can't refinish or reseal laminate, while you can add extra layers of urethane to vinyl flooring to extend its life.
Veneer can be a very smooth surface, so chalk paint alone will probably scratch off. Make sure the veneer doesn't have cracks. If needed, remove any sections of peeling veneer. Clean the piece well, prime, and then apply a few coats of chalk paint to the veneer furniture.
If you are asking yourself “Can you stain wood veneer?” The answer is yes! Staining veneer furniture is a great alternative to paining veneer, and allows you to restore the beautiful wood.
Veneered furniture can be refinished like other wood furniture, as long as the veneer is not too thin, and you take care not to remove too much of the veneer when removing the old finish.
Study the grain of the wood. If the grain is tight and hard to see, it is a closed-grain wood. If the grain is large and easily visible, it is a open-grain wood. Softwood has a closed grain but hardwood can have open or closed grain.
Look at the grain pattern. The texture of the grain determines what kind of wood it is. A wood has an open, porous texture. Softwoods are usually smooth with no grain pattern while hardwood usually has an open pore structure that is quite rough and sticky.
An app called MyWood-Id was recently launched to change that. Working with the macro lens on the smartphone, the user should be able to scan and capture the characteristic end surface every timber or group of timber possesses.