The surface of beech and spruce wood was modified using 10% ammonia solution before gluing with a PVA-c adhesive. Contact surfaces were levelled by sawing or planing and then activated with NH4OH. The roughness of the modified surfaces has been measured. The wetting behaviour of sawed, planed and modified surfaces was determined as well as the various correlations between wetting, bonding, strength, penetration of adhesive, and spread of the bonding strength.