|
The phone rings and Mitch Ross answers: “Millwork.”
The following conversation is a series of
measurements combined with types of wood—almost a
foreign language to anyone not in the construction
business. But it’s extremely helpful to the caller
and to Ross, the Millwork Shop manager at
Trumbull-Nelson, and his team of woodworkers.
“Communication between the shop and the job is very
important,” he explains. “That’s why the phone rings
all the time. The flow of information is vital with
every job, no matter the size.”
Trumbull-Nelson maintains a fully equipped and
staffed architectural Millwork Shop, capable of
fabricating finished millwork products to the
highest quality standard and the most stringent
specifications. In fact, you’ve probably seen some
of the Millwork Shop’s work on your travels around
the Upper Valley: Hanover restaurant Boloco’s curved
bench, the new reference and information desks at
the Howe Library, the half-round receptionist desk
at the Quechee Gorge Visitor Center., and the
cabinetwork for the concession stand in the Nugget
Theater.
“We can duplicate any
molding.”
Millwork is a general term that encompasses
different types of woodworking, such as moldings,
trim work, trim details (for example, ornate
brackets), and case work (cabinets and shelves). “We
can build anything—and we have,” says Ross. He’s
been in the business for 25 years (12 at
Trumbull-Nelson) and took the position as manager in
2004. Today the Millwork Shop team includes three
master cabinetmakers, and one journeyman
cabinetmaker.
A typical millwork project consists of both on-site
project work and off-site shop work. “We get out
there and see the location that the millwork is
going into,” says Ross. “We look for outlets, pipes,
heating—any existing structure that has to be taken
into consideration before the millwork is
installed.” He notes that they often face challenges
in adding new components to an older home where you
might find some surprises with the building itself
like walls out of plumb and sloping floors. “Those
things need to be taken into consideration for the
cabinets to come out plumb and square.”
Back in the shop, Ross goes through the set of plans
and the scope of work to make a list of the
materials to order. He drafts up some drawings for
the architect for approval or, if there is no
architect on the project, some sketches of how the
piece is going to come together for the woodworker.
Creation takes place in the Millwork Shop, a
building located directly behind the Trumbull-Nelson
main offices on Lebanon Street in Hanover. There are
five benches (one for each woodworker) loaded with
stationary tools, power tools, and hand tools. The
shop boasts an array of tools: 12-inch table saw,
36-inch sander, 26-inch planer, 12-inch jointer,
10-inch table saw, 16-inch sliding table saw, and a
portable molding machine. “We can duplicate any
molding that comes in,” says Ross. There is also an
edge bander, shaper, and inline boring machine, band
saws, drills, and lathes, as well as calculators all
over the place, since architectural millwork
requires knowledge of trigonometry, geometry, and
plenty of basic math.
“Nothing is beyond our skill,
we’ve always been able to figure it out.”
Ross points out a new state-of-the-art spray booth,
complete with AirFlow Tech doors at one end and an
exhaust fan behind a wall of filters at the other
end. “This room has a large capacity—we can easily
get a whole kitchen in there. It’s even big enough
to drive a vehicle into.” The spray machine can
provide lacquer finishes in any color. Once
finished, T-N’s woodworkers sometimes install the
work on site; other times it is sent to the job for
installation by the project team.
The Millwork Shop has seen quite a bit of intricate
work over the past few years. Take, for example, the
Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. A renovation
for a new 10-ton organ required new supports and
footings that had to extend to the basement. T-N’s
Millwork Shop was responsible for creating a new
screen behind the organist, duplicating some of the
existing pulpit and lectern, as well as crafting new
pews and privacy screens. An 18-drawer wooden
cabinet in the Millwork Shop holds some of the
special knives created to reproduce the 1930s
moldings.
“Nothing is beyond our skill,” Ross says. “We’ve
always been able to figure it out.” Ross hopes that
clients are aware of all the work that takes place
behind a finished architectural millwork piece—but
doesn’t want them to worry about it. “They just need
to know that we are going to give them the best
product we can possibly give them, and try to do it
in the shortest amount of time,” he says. “We want
the client to say at the end of a project ‘What a
great job. We’re very happy.’”
And Ross and his team go out of their way to ensure
satisfaction with every project. Ross tells the
story of a customer from Maine who stopped in with
measurements for bookshelves he wanted built for his
new house. “We relied on his measurements and sent
detailed sketches back and forth. The shelves fit
perfectly. He was very happy, even writing a letter
to the office about his experience,” he recalls.
“Then the shelf pins did not come in and were
delayed. He had to wait three weeks to put up his
new bookshelves. I was worried that this would ruin
his feelings about the job, but when I called him to
check he said, ‘I’m not even going to remember that
part. You did a great job.’ The road may sometimes
be rocky, but we want our customers to be as happy
as possible with the end result.”
“We want the client to say at
the end of a project ‘What a great job. We’re very
happy.' "
 |
