I’ve been refinishing the doors in my 1925 bungalow for a while now – 11 out of 13 done so far. Unfortunately, I was a bit aggressive with my sander on one of the doors (see attached pic) and sanded through the veneer (in my defense I had just gotten a new orbital sander and didn’t realize how powerful it was – oops). This panel also has some bubbles from leaving the stripper on too long (another oops). One solution I’m considering is to apply a new layer of veneer over the panel, but I’ve never worked with veneer so I’m hoping you guys can help me out. First, is this a bad idea? If so, what might be a better approach? If it is a viable solution I have some questions:

1) Should I try to remove the existing veneer first? I have a spare door that I tried taking apart, but that’s just not feasible given the way the door was constructed. I’m guessing removing the veneer would probably involve sanding it all down or trying to loosen it (melt the glue?) and cutting it out.
2) Once #1 is resolved, what type of veneer should I get? Backed or unbacked?
3) Can anyone recommend a good source for birch veneer?
4) Any suggestions on the best way to apply the veneer?  I know this is a very broad question, and I’m going to assume there are lots of FWW articles on the subject, but I thought I’d ask anyway.

I’ll probably have a lot more questions but hopefully those of you with experience can steer me in the right direction.

Many thanks,
Larry