Commercial Millwork and Fit-Out Cabinetry
Commercial millwork is judged on two things: whether it survives public use, and whether it arrives on the day the schedule says it will.
Who we usually do this for
A commercial fit-out has constraints a house does not. There is a general contractor with a critical path, a landlord with rules about hours and freight access, an occupancy inspection at the end, and a client whose revenue depends on opening when they said they would.
Craft Mill Works works within that structure. We produce shop drawings for review, confirm dimensions against the site rather than the architectural set, coordinate manufacturing with our production partners, and schedule installation to fit the trade sequence rather than expecting the sequence to fit us.
Professional offices — law, accounting, design and consulting practices — where the reception desk and the storage wall are the visible investment and everything else is drywall.
Clinics and wellness practices, where casework has to be cleanable, durable and sometimes compliant with specific requirements for the treatment being delivered.
Small retail and hospitality, where fixtures carry heavy public handling and where the display detail is the difference between a space that sells and one that does not.
Property managers and landlords preparing a unit for lease or refreshing a common area on a defined budget and timeline.
What this usually looks like
Most projects settle into one of these. They are starting points for the conversation rather than a menu.
- 01
Reception and front-of-house desks
Transaction counters at the correct heights for both standing and seated interaction, with an accessible section where the occupancy requires it, cable management for point-of-sale equipment, and a durable front face.
- 02
Office storage walls and filing
Full-height cabinetry runs with locking storage, coat provision and integrated services. Usually the most efficient way to give an open-plan floor the storage it lacks.
- 03
Clinic and treatment-room casework
Base and upper cabinetry with cleanable surfaces, sealed junctions, and sink and equipment integration coordinated with the mechanical trades.
- 04
Retail fixtures and display
Wall systems, gondolas, plinths and back-of-counter storage designed around the merchandising plan and built to survive customer handling.
- 05
Café and hospitality millwork
Service counters, back-bar storage and banquette seating, coordinated with equipment specifications and the health inspection requirements for the occupancy.
- 06
Meeting and boardroom millwork
Credenzas, integrated audio-visual provision, writable and acoustic wall surfaces, and cable routes agreed with the technology installer.
- 07
Common-area and amenity millwork
Concierge desks, mail and parcel storage, and amenity-room cabinetry for residential and commercial buildings.
What is included, and what is optional
The written scope on your project lists this specifically. Nothing here is implied — if it is not on the document, it is not in the price.
Included as standard
- Review of architectural and interior design drawings
- Site verification of dimensions before manufacturing
- Shop drawings issued for consultant or client review
- Material and finish specification with samples
- Manufacturing coordination with our production partners
- Delivery and site logistics planning
- Installation coordinated to the construction schedule
- Deficiency walkthrough and close-out
Available as options
- Fire-rated substrate where the occupancy requires it
- Accessible counter sections designed to the applicable standard
- Coordination with electrical, mechanical and audio-visual trades
- Phased or after-hours installation to suit building rules
- Locking, keying and security hardware schedules
- Maintenance documentation for the facility team
- Demolition and removal of existing fixtures
The choices that matter for this work
Commercial specification differs from residential. High-pressure laminate, phenolic and compact surfaces are chosen for public-facing horizontal surfaces because they survive abrasion and cleaning chemicals. Where a project has fire-rating or specific hygiene requirements, the substrate is selected to meet them and we will provide the documentation for review.
The door is roughly eighty per cent of what you see, and it is the decision that sets the character of the whole room. These are the four directions most projects settle into.
Shaker
A five-piece frame around a recessed panel, typically a 57 to 70 millimetre rail. The default for a reason: it suits almost every house and dates slowly.
Slim shaker
The same construction with a narrower frame, around 35 to 45 millimetres. Reads more contemporary and gives a slightly larger panel, which matters on narrow doors.
Slab
A flat, frameless front. The most contemporary option and the least forgiving — there is nowhere for a poor finish or an uneven substrate to hide.
Reeded and fluted
Vertical grooves that catch light and add texture. Excellent on an island or a feature run; heavy across an entire kitchen, and harder to clean.
What we would tell you
- A shaker door with a wide rail on a narrow 300-millimetre cabinet leaves a very small panel. On runs with many narrow doors, a slim shaker usually looks better proportioned.
- Slab doors show every substrate imperfection and every fingerprint in a gloss finish. In matte, they are one of the easiest surfaces to live with.
- Mixing two door styles in one room works when there is a clear reason — for example slab on the island and shaker on the perimeter. Mixing without a reason reads as indecision.
These are representative of the directions we work in, not a stocked catalogue. Colours shown on a screen are approximations — we confirm what is actually available for your project and put a physical sample in your hands before you commit to anything.
Things worth settling early
Each of these is straightforward at drawing stage and expensive or impossible afterwards. We raise them; you decide.
- 01
Site verification always beats the drawing set
Architectural drawings show intent. Framed walls end up somewhere slightly different. We measure the built condition before manufacturing, because a millwork item is the least forgiving element on site.
- 02
Building rules shape the schedule
Freight elevator booking, loading-dock windows, insurance certificates and permitted working hours are set by the landlord or property manager. We collect these at the start rather than discovering them the morning of delivery.
- 03
Accessibility requirements are a design input
Where a counter serves the public, accessible height and knee-clearance provisions typically apply under Ontario's accessibility and building requirements. Confirm the applicable standard with your designer or code consultant early — it changes the desk, not the trim.
- 04
Public-facing surfaces need commercial specification
A residential-grade finish on a reception counter will look tired within a year. The additional cost of the correct surface is small relative to replacing it.
- 05
Coordinate with the trades that come after you
Electrical, data, plumbing and audio-visual all interact with millwork. Agreeing the interfaces in shop drawings prevents the on-site improvisation that produces visible compromises.
- 06
Allow float in the programme
Millwork usually lands late in the sequence, which means it absorbs every earlier delay. Building realistic float in at the start protects the opening date.
The same five stages, every project
- 01
Initial conversation
Tell us about the space. We tell you what is involved and what it depends on.
A phone call or a video call, usually 20 to 30 minutes
- 02
Site consultation and measurements
We measure the room properly — including everything that is out of square.
Typically 45 to 90 minutes on site
- 03
Design and material selection
Drawings you can read, and a written scope listing every cabinet.
Usually one to three weeks, depending on how many revisions you want
- 04
Production and scheduling
Manufacturing runs while we lock in dates, access and the other trades.
Typically four to eight weeks, depending on scope and finish
- 05
Installation and final review
Installed, adjusted, and walked through together — with anything outstanding in writing.
One to four days on site for most residential projects
Commercial millwork: what people ask
Do you work directly with general contractors and designers?
Frequently. We can be engaged directly by the business owner, by the general contractor as a millwork trade, or by an interior designer as the specialist executing their drawings. Tell us which structure you are working in and we will fit it.
Can you produce shop drawings for review?
Yes. Shop drawings are standard on our commercial projects — they are how we confirm that what we intend to build matches what the consultant intended to specify, before anything is manufactured.
Can you work after hours or on weekends?
Where the building requires it, yes. Occupied offices, retail units and condominium common areas often restrict work to evenings or weekends. It affects the cost and needs to be established at quotation rather than negotiated later.
Do you handle permits and inspections?
Permits and code compliance for the overall fit-out sit with the project's general contractor, designer or code consultant. We supply the millwork to the specified requirements and provide the product documentation needed for review. We do not present ourselves as the code authority on a project.
What information do you need to price a commercial project?
At minimum: drawings or a sketch of what is required, the site address and access conditions, the target installation window, and any finish or performance specification that has already been set. The more of that we have, the more useful the first number is.
Where this often goes next
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Commercial millwork across the GTA
We work across the Greater Toronto Area from our base in North York. See all service areas.
Ready to talk about commercial millwork?
Send us the room, a rough idea, or a few photographs. We will tell you what is involved and what it depends on — before anyone talks about price.