Where required, every effort is made to colour-match hardwood door lippings, glazing beads, frames, etc., with veneered door facings. However, as timber is a natural material, variations in shade and colour will occur – although usually diminishing over time. The table above offers a guide but other species may be substituted due to availability.

Leaderflush Shapland was the first company in its industry to develop and implement tracking systems independently assessed by BM Trada to meet the requirements of the FSC Chain of Custody Scheme. As a result, doors and doorsets can be specified using solid timber and timber based raw materials exclusively from well-managed and sustainable services and independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Wood veneers are obtained by slicing or peeling a log to produce a thin layer of wood of a selected uniform thickness, usually 0.6mm. Selected logs are de-barked and cut through their length into halves or quarters known as 'flitches'. These flitches are steamed for several days depending on their species before they are sliced into veneer 'sheets'. The individual veneer sheets are the same width as the flitch, so as cutting proceeds sheets will change gradually in size. Each sheet, whilst having the appearance qualities of the flitch will be of very slightly different appearance from both preceding and following sheet.

After cutting, the reassembled flitches are cured and dried. The job of the veneer matcher, which is highly skilled, is to use the available raw material to produce combinations of veneers or 'lay-ons' in accordance with the given appearance specification. Sheets will then be guillotined for width and height so that when joined in the specified style they will produce lay-ons only slightly larger than the required panel size. Lay-ons are produced by joining the veneer sheets edge to edge with adhesive
or tape. Often lay-ons are individually numbered so that, for example, the lay-on for a matched through overpanel face is identified with its door leaf face at all points in the production sequence. Unless special requirements are called for, a reasonable veneer match between 'en-suite' doors will be provided at our discretion. Our minimum flitch widths are 100mm for quarter cut lay-ons and 150mm for crown cut lay-ons.

There are many timber species suitable for the production of decorative wood veneers – samples can be provided, which are also useful for control purposes during the project. The technique of cutting veneers will substantially effect the appearance of the end product. Where no other veneer is specified, Quarter Cut, Book Matched will be supplied.