Bath Remodel
Who doesn’t want a soothing place to start the day and a comfortable place to unwind at the end? Custom Bath Design has your bath remodel covered.
Kitchen Remodel
Many homeowners opt to upgrade the kitchen as a showpiece in the home. The kitchen tends to be where people gather and is considered the heart of the home. When you are ready for a kitchen remodel, custom kitchen cabinetry allows you to make your dream kitchen a reality.
Custom Cabinetry vs. Customizable Prefabricated Cabinets.
When planning a kitchen, bath, home, or office remodel or new construction, you have the choice to use custom cabinetry or customizable prefabricated cabinets. At Mill Cabinet Shop, we find it useful to emphasize the distinction between products. Check out our handy table to compare products side by side.
New Look, Same Great Service!
Mill Cabinet Shop is proud to announce our new website! We hope the new site makes it easy for you to browse our work and get in touch.
Rocky Shull
Lee Stover remembers the beginning of Rocky Shull’s career with Mill Cabinet Shop well. “Back in 1983, I looked up from my bench to see a familiar face grinning at me as he followed my dad through the shop. If you had told me that day that Rocky would become the master of the trade he is today, I may have had my doubts. Not anymore.”
When Rocky came to work here he was 18 with great promise and potential. He values the lessons he learned from those around him. Laughing, he recalls Harry teaching him to run the lathe, showing confidence in Rocky using very hands on methods to cultivate his talent. In turn, Rocky has passed on his lessons in a style much the same as Harry. Anyone who’s had the opportunity to learn something from Rocky can attest to his ability to explain clearly, instill confidence and create opportunities to learn.
Rocky’s favorite work to do is anything that takes just a bit more finesse; arches, circles, interesting and unique pieces. His favorite way to relax is hunting, fishing and traveling to Nags Head for vacation.
Sam Sponaugle
Sam Sponaugle started at Mill Cabinet Shop October 15, 1984. With 16 years of experience in construction, he joined the team as lead installer. During his years in installing, he also worked throughout the shop deepening his knowledge of the trade. Following shortly after the devastating fire and the restoration of the shop, Sam moved into a new role. Eager to learn and grow, he went to Blue Ridge and took computer classes. He credits Pat and Randy with teaching him the finer points of the CAD system.
“Sam has a unique insight into design as a result of his many years in installation. He is able to anticipate special considerations a job may require and meet those needs in advance creating a smooth design and build process,” commented Randy Stover.
Sam’s favorite part of working at Mill Cabinet Shop is “meeting new people and helping people design kitchens.” Indeed, any client who works with him can be sure he will take a personal interest in their tastes and preferences and invest time into their dream. He treats the design process as much as an exercise in the client’s self expression as an opportunity to create a masterful end product.
When he’s not in the office he is enjoying nature, hunting or farming. He has also served as the pastor at Elkton Church of God since 1986. He has a wife, two married daughters and two grandchildren.
Roger Furr
Roger, Head Finisher, joined Mill Cabinet Shop on October 31, 1977. Just as Harry Stover passed his talent and skill on to the following generations of the Stover family by teaching design and building, Roger benefitted by following family footsteps as well. Roger’s great-uncle R. B. Furr was the original finisher for the shop and when Roger joined the company, R.B. was happy to pass on his technique and training.
Lee Stover, when reflecting on Roger’s time in the business, points out “The finishing room at a custom cabinet shop is the toughest position in the entire enterprise. How Roger has maintained his sanity all these years is remarkable. At the same time, he has become the best there is bar none.”
Roger says the most valuable lesson he’s learned since those early days in “don’t get in too much of a hurry.” Roger’s favorite finishes are rustic, worn finishes where he says “you can really apply yourself.” When Roger isn’t in the finishing room, he wants to be on Ocracoke in North Carolina, camping, reading and spending time with his grandkids.
Mill Cabinet Shop History: Fire of 1998
In October of 1998, Mill Cabinet Shop suffered a devastating loss as fire ravaged the building. With determination and the support of the community, we rebuilt with amazing speed. Below is the text of 2 articles published about the fire in the local paper, The Daily News Record.
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Fire 15 Fire 16
By ALAYNA DEMARTINI News-Record Staff Writer Fire destroyed a cabinet shop near Bridgewater early Tuesday, starting in a spraying area and tearing through the building.
It had not been determined Tuesday night what started the fire at Mill Cabinet Shop Inc., said John Huddle, Rockingham County’s fire investigator. The fire was reported by a neighbor about 1 a.m., and most of the flames were extinguished by about 5 a.m.
The damage amounted to several hundred thousand dollars, Huddle said.
The blaze started in a room where cabinets had been sprayed with lacquers, and it also contained heaters, blowers, electrical outlets, fans and light switches, Huddle said.
Huddle said he is uncertain if lacquers started the blaze. The owners of the business told fire officials that most of the lacquer containers were stored in an outside facility and less than 50 gallons were in the building, Huddle said.
Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dave Goering said the business owners are Randy and Lee Stover.
Huddle said no one was in or near the building at the time, but arson has not been ruled out.
“We’re not far enough in the investigation to rule out anything,” he said.
Goering, however, said there was no suspicion of arson.
The cabinet shop’s storage building, which contained a few hundred gallons of lacquers, was about 100 feet away from the main building; it received heat damage, but did not catch on fire, Huddle said.
Industry standards require that lacquers be stored in an outside building.
At this point in the investigation, it seems to be that the cabinet shop owners “were doing everything right,” Huddle said. “It doesn’t appear to be a question of them being lax in what they were doing. We don’t know exactly what happened.”
Mill Cabinet had been open since the 1950s and employed about 25-30 people, Huddle said.
The building was filled with flames when firefighters arrived. About 40 firefighters from Clover Hill, Rockingham County’s Hose Company No. 4, Mount Solon, Weyers Cave and Bridgewater fire departments responded to the call. The Bridgewater Rescue Squad stood by, Goering said.
When firefighters arrived, they were able to confine the flames to the spray room, but then the fire rolled over the top of them, spreading throughout the attic area. The flames were fueled by sawdust, Huddle said.
The building is about 13,000 square-feet and shaped like an L. Not a lot of cabinets were stored in the building because they are generally sent out as soon as they are made, Huddle said.
The first fire crews to be sent home left just before sunrise, he said.
This morning, fire officials were scheduled to return to the scene to complete the investigation.
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Shop Fire Traced To Equipment Area
By ALAYNA DEMARTINI News-Record Staff Writer The fire Tuesday morning at Mill Cabinet Shop Inc. was traced to electrical equipment above a spray booth.
But John Huddle, a Rockingham County fire investigator, said he could not determine if the blaze was caused by faulty electrical equipment at the top of the booth, the site where finishes were applied to cabinets.
The electrical equipment was turned over to the insurance company, which may be able to determine whether there was a problem with it, Huddle said.
The fire scene seems to indicate the fire did not originate with lacquers, although lacquers may have fueled the fire a little bit, Huddle said.
Less than 50 gallons of lacquer were left in the business on Dry River Road near Bridgewater, Huddle has said.
“Just because you have lacquers in there does not mean that caused the fire,” said Huddle, who ruled out arson as the cause.
The fire was reported by a neighbor about 1 a.m., and although it was under control by 3 a.m., it continued to burn in some areas through Wednesday afternoon.]
Huddle estimated that damage was in the $750,000 range.
“When you get a fire of that magnitude, you can’t put it out until you start hauling the debris away,” Huddle said.]
The site was pretty well cleared by Wednesday afternoon because of a lot of support in the community, Huddle said.
Mill Cabinet’s office manager Pat Shiflet, whose uncles and grandmother own the business, said they plan to rebuild, and it likely will be on the same site. The shop employs 25-30 people.
He said construction could begin in as early as three weeks.
Cabinet Finishes Paint, Stain, Glaze, Wear, Distress, or All of Them. Amazing Finishes!
We do a lot of different finishes here at Mill Cabinet Shop. We often stain, paint, and glaze, but we also distress and wear cabinets to give them a unique and distinctive look.
This series of pictures is from a job we did in August of 2013. It has one of the most complex finishes we do here applied to it. The wood of these cabinets is rustic hickory, and it has knots and imperfections throughout.
The wood is first “worn” in spots on its edges and face, using a sander in places we would normally see wear on the wood. This gives it a well-loved look. It is then stained a dark color, sealed, and sanded. The wood is then painted with the color the client had chosen, and worn again to reveal the darker stain under the paint. A glaze is applied to the surface and then wiped off. This leaves some behind to give it some contrast to specific areas. The final step is for all the pieces to get one or two clear coats of lacquer to protect this amazing finish.
Check out these pictures of the finished kitchen and bathroom. These pictures do not do it justice, but we hope you can appreciate the amount of work and love we put into each and every kitchen.
