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Millwork Drawings

The term millwork refers to custom; shop-built, wood components designed for interior finish construction. It is typical to both residential and commercial work. The project interior designer or architect designs and then produces the drawings for such items. They are included in the set of construction drawings for the job.

For example, a restaurant project would involve the design of a custom bar, waitress stations, banquette seating, and so on. A home project might involve custom kitchen cabinetry or a built in entertainment unit. An office would have a custom designed reception desk.

All types of wood cabinets, chair rails, wall units, wall paneling, cash units, display fixtures, custom wood doors, etc. fall into this category.

Each item designed for a project is detailed. A plan view, a front elevation (view), rear elevation, side elevations, sections and enlarged details explain the design. Dimensions and notes are added to describe construction and finishes.

Some project only requires a few fixtures. The detailing of these will often be incorporated into other pages of the construction drawings. Trim is shown on interior wall elevations with the desired profile provided. A floor fixture might be detailed on the same page as the plan or on another drawing.

Projects, which involve many items, will require several pages to cover them all. These drawings pages are usually grouped together and included at the end of the architectural set of drawings.

This method of placement, allows a general contractor, bidding the job, to separate the drawings, and provide various woodworking shops with only the ones they need for pricing. An owner may decide to have their own contact bid on the woodwork and can provide them with the appropriate drawings.

A separate set of drawings also works well for chain stores. The head office will have the custom fixtures priced from the millwork drawings. They will then contract out large quantities of standard fixtures directly to a woodworking shop. This enables them to mass-produce items typical to their stores, such as cash units or display cases. By producing more than one at a time they are able to negotiate a better overall price.

Typically, the general contractor sub-contracts the millwork portion of a project to a woodworking company. Shop built ensures a quality item produced by skilled trades people using special machinery and finishing techniques. Manufacturing conditions are controlled and set up especially for this type of work.

The contracted company will produce shop drawings
for their own use. A shop drawing breaks down the components and materials by fixture for production. Fastening and joints are detailed and finishes are noted. When a request for approval is noted on the millwork drawings, they are submitted to the interior designer or architect for approval prior to manufacturing. This ensures items are build as intended for the project. It also ensures everything is built in a proper fashion acceptable to the project designer. Approved shop drawings are then used for building.

When standard wood trims are specified for paint finish they are usually cut and installed on the job site by the general contractor’s forces. These are the types of trims readily available in a lumberyard or building supply centre. If a unique profile, stain or finish is required, then they become part of the woodshop package.

As mentioned at the beginning, millwork is primarily wood, although glass and metal parts are included in many designs. Pull out drawers or shelves have metal sides. Display cases have glass tops and/ or fronts.

Wood refers to solid wood, wood veneer, MDF or plywood. (MDF is a smooth medium density fiberboard.) Drawing notes and finish schedules provide specify the type, solid or plywood veneer, maple, pine, oak, etc. and the finish. Plastic laminate is a finish typically applied to plywood.

For some commercial projects melamine is used for the inside of cabinetry. Melamine already has a low pressure laminate applied to both side of a particleboard base. Plastic laminate is more durable and water resistant but must be applied onto a substrate such as plywood.

The following is an example of a millwork drawing. The drawing has been reduced to fit on this page. It is only to provide an overview, not to shown any specific information.

Some typical notes on a millwork drawing are:

3/ 4” thick plywood gable with p. lam. finish (symbol) applied to all surfaces and edges
3/4” thick melamine (symbol) adjustable shelves with matching finish applied to all edges
metal pilaster strips c/w metal shelf clips (4) per shelf 3/4” thick plywood door with p. lam. finish (symbol) c/w concealed hinges and 3” satin chrome ‘D’ pull
3/4” thick oak veneer plywood end gable (symbol)
Shop drawings must be provided for approval by the designer prior to manufacturing

The (symbol) shown in the notes above represents where a finish symbol is placed. These finish symbols such, as “PL-1” in a rectangle is a reference. A specification is listed for each in a Finish Schedule. The specification is by manufacturer, model number, colour, size, etc, or as required to describe the item.

Custom fixtures (cabinetry) do not require a permit application. The suppliers of the components (plywood, solid wood, stains, etc.) have met the required regulations in order to sell their product. Woodshops purchase their materials from these suppliers.

In some commercial projects, where wood is extensively used, such as paneling, custom designed doors/ frames, or storefronts, the wood must ‘fire retardant treated’ to meet code requirements. This relates to public safety and is reviewed as such by the building department issuing the permit.

Items designed for residential projects, tables, cabinets, shelving, etc. often integrate traditional wood joint details. More time and cost is usually associated with this type of custom woodwork. However, these joints provide strength, beauty and character to any design, traditional or modern. For commercial designs these are usually avoided due to the time frame and budget allowance associated with these projects.

For an example of some typical wood joints, click on the following heading.

Wood Joints in Millwork

To learn more about construction drawings, click on the heading below.

Construction Drawings

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