Solid wood vs Veneer furniture?

Submitted by ValkyieAbove t3_10i5vra in BuyItForLife

I’m in the market for a new bed frame, and it seems like all the cool And stylish designs that I’d like to buy are made with a veneer finish (of oak or maple wood).

To get the same style bed frame in real wood would cost over $3000 Canadian, which is crazy.

How does veneer last over time? I’ve had an Ike’s bed frame which started to peel after 5 years, which is probably not the same quality of furniture from stores like Article, however still leaves me hesitant to spend $1200 on a bed frame.

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Blueporch t1_j5cojlv wrote

Solid wood, even secondhand, is more BIFL than veneer.

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F-21 t1_j5dqfpy wrote

Aell, depends on the product. For example solid wood doors will get bent out of shape over time cause the material breathes and moves. Really nice doors will not be just solid wood planks, they'll have some sort of a structure inside that's not succeptible to moisture - e.g. plywood, and then very thick veneer on top.

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michael_bgood t1_j5cols7 wrote

The issues isn't with the veneer, it's the substrate (wood underneath) and connections.

Good plywood is as strong or dimensionally more stable than some solid woods. The better furniture will be made from good plywood

Avoid particle board - any cheap furniture is made from this and will sag or break.

Plywood: https://www.thehandymansdaughter.com/types-of-plywood/

Any woodworkers in the group care to add to this?

EDIT: Good plywood is also more sustainable/ eco-friendly than solid wood. No need to kill more trees than you need to, right?

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complywood t1_j5cyse0 wrote

Trees are a renewable resource! It's not about how many you kill, it's about how sustainably they're grown/harvested.

Plywood uses less wood, but sticking the layers together involves glue and high heat. Also, in the US, it is almost exclusively manufactured in California, so if you're on the east coast, you have to add in shipping.

Overall locally sourced, sustainably grown solid wood is the most eco-friendly. Unfortunately it can be hard to find out this information.

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MayorDaley t1_j5crtww wrote

With lumber, you can have stronger joints, like mortice and tenon. Plywood joints are really limited to rabbets and you need more pieces to stabilize the corners. It is difficult to find new plywood with a thick outer veneer, so a deep gouge will go right to the inner core layers. A gouge in lumber looks less obvious, unless the wood is stained a strong color. Lumber will give you the option for a nicer looking bed frame and if well built will outlast a plywood bed frame.

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nightmareorreality t1_j5dpkt7 wrote

Most joints on substrate/veneer beds will be secured using dowels and metal brackets.

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nightmareorreality t1_j5dpi53 wrote

Emphasis on re enforcing the connections. If a delivery team assembles your bed, go in after them and make sure all the hardware is present and tight. I repair retail furniture professionally and I can’t count how many bedframes are absolutely trashed from lackluster assembly. Support legs in the slats should be tight and straight up and down, all hardware should be torqued on those corner brackets. The headboard should have a little play at the top because of the weight but none at the bottom.

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rawbias t1_j5cip1t wrote

Depends how thick the veneer is and quality. Buy vintage or antique.

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drprox t1_j5eakh0 wrote

Yep vintage all the way. Half the designs are better anyway!

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GreatRhinoceros t1_j5cyrci wrote

Veneers over solid wood are good and repairable. Anything applied to particle board or chip-board should be considered disposable.

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zubyzubyzoo t1_j5dxzfl wrote

It's to the point where the last time I moved, the moving company specifically said they would cover damage to any of my items EXCEPT furniture made of MDF.

They didn't break anything, and I had just one MDF item left at the time (converted to real wood and never looked back)

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ChipTheSeal t1_j5cllg4 wrote

Agree with u/rawbias, I suggest watching craigslist and/or Facebook marketplace. Some of the most beautiful furniture in my house is from people who didn't want to pay a mover or get it out of their house thesemeves. You'd be amazed at what you can find for extremely cheap or free.

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Yakapo88 t1_j5i90h9 wrote

Agreed. We needed a new dresser for the kids room. We paid $150 for a pottery barn dresser. A similar model on the website sells for $1300.

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Fryceratops t1_j5d6faf wrote

I have a dresser set from the 1950s. The veneer is beginning to peel after it cracked on one of the legs. This has been in constant use since then

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papermageling t1_j5cqngd wrote

I've inherited some veneer pieces from my grandma, and my parents have a veneered dining room table from the 1920s (admittedly, the veneer there is to be extra fancy, not to save money). These pieces can last if constructed well! But they definitely are more delicate and harder to repair than pure wood.

I don't have advice about buying new though: I love the style, price, and durability of used 100% wood furniture. I picked up a 100% mahogany dresser off FB marketplace for $60. That would have cost thousands new! Admittedly, it could use a bit of refinishing, but that's diy-able, and still cheaper to pay someone to do than buying new.

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complywood t1_j5czboc wrote

Refinishing is DIY-able, but can be quite difficult, depending on the shape of the wood. The stuff you use to strip polyurethane is absolutely disgusting. And getting stuff professionally refinished can cost quarter to half the price of buying new.

Secondhand is still great and I would recommend it, but it's important to know what you're geting yourself into if you plan to refinish. Touching up or painting over is much easier than re-staining, though (but not as nice of a result).

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CamelHairy t1_j5cm1ji wrote

It won't be cheap, but look up Dutch Crafters of Myerstown, PA. There is no veneer, all solid wood construction. They make everything. It's the quality your grandchildren will be fighting over. They made our dining room set, and our bedroom set. We weren't rich and literally purchased one piece at a time over 5 years.

https://www.dutchcrafters.com/

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Antique-Screen-2878 t1_j5dd67y wrote

Solid wood unless you are getting something crazy like a CITES listed wood or old growth logs pulled from the bottom of a river, lake or swamp.

Article is more a lifestyle brand than a quality furniture maker. I'd look for a local woodworker to build what you want. Canada has some cheap hardwoods and you should sink that money into craftsmanship instead of marketing and have the best materials available.

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lynxss1 t1_j5dktus wrote

Depends on the quality of the veneer and substrate. Many high end antique furniture is veneered but solid cheaper wood underneath.

My bedframe is almost 800 lbs, just the 16 inch wide oak rails take 2 people to move, and I was quite surprised to find out it has thick veneers with laminated MDF underneath on the corner posts. When I chipped it I was disappointed to find the MDF, I had always assumed it was solid wood and it was sold as such pretty expensively too. I had no problem fixing it and it's still beyond sturdy built like a tank and survived multiple moves including hired movers knocking a hole in a wall getting it down some stairs once.

Our previous bedframe was a solid wood hand me down with metal rails and it was thin and broke beyond repair, hence the super beefy replacement.

Dont assume its BIFL just because its solid wood, and not because it may have some veneers.

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F-21 t1_j5dq865 wrote

Ye solid wood will always look more classic, not so stylish..

What about pine (softwood)? Even the ikea softwood stuff is pretty decent (especially if you add a couple extra steel braces in the corners).

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Materva t1_j5dsbh7 wrote

Solid wood furniture is crazy expensive, and for good reason. Like others have said, buy them secondhand or at an estate sale

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zubyzubyzoo t1_j5dxv5b wrote

I wanted to get a solid wood bedframe and have been very happy with the one I got from "get laid beds" - it's a UK company, but they'll ship to the US (and I assume canada). Plus the name is cheeky and I like it

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topazco t1_j5e33sr wrote

It also depends what the veneer is on. If it’s IKEA, it’s probably MDF which is crap. If you are in Canada check out EQ3. I have a bedroom set which is veneer over plywood I believe and it is still in Greer shape after almost 20yrs. A few chips and scratches here and there. I have also moved a couple of times and disassembled/re-assembled. If you don’t abuse it, it should last.

I am very much opposed to buying online furniture without being able to see the quality first-hand. As others have said, check out local listings for used furniture such as some of the major brands of mid-century modern or danish/teak furniture

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Complete-Damage9623 t1_j5gj58e wrote

Maybe try looking for local people online or on Etsy. I ran into the same issue with most coffee tables being veneer but still being really expensive. I found someone 3 hours away on Etsy who can custom make one and it costs a fraction of what a solid wood table would cost from some of the high end furniture mills I was looking at.

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trampled93 t1_j5hdm7d wrote

Look for used bedroom furniture for really cheap on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist. We bought a really nice solid oak Amish bedroom set from a wealthy couple that was moving and didn’t want to take it with them. We paid about $700 for queen bed, chest of drawers, 2 bedside tables, and a big nice dresser with mirror. All solid oak in perfect condition.

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w88dm4n t1_j5o9j6a wrote

Solid wood, most of the time. Veneered furniture was found in Egyptian tombs, and lasted 3000 years. Composite panels are more stable with humidity, and a veneered table top makes sense.

Particle board, chip board, osb, mdf, etc are not good for most jointery, but can hold screws. Not BIFL.

Lumber and veneer core plywoods can be BIFL. The durability and reliability of these panels vary widely, and the labels don't say. Major furniture manufacturers can custom order their own panels to the performance they want: glues used, glue qty, press time, veneer species & orientation, veneer thickness, et cetera.

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MonstahButtonz t1_j5crw4b wrote

Pay the money for BIFL, or buy used. $3k for a solid wood bed frame is pretty reasonable, tbh.

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