Made in Southeast Michigan, Since 1982.

Drawings, fabrication, finishing, and install — all in-house, all from one shop floor.

Wide view of Sterling Millwork shop floor with assembly stations

Our Story

A Shop Built by Hand.

Sterling started in 1982 as a small woodworking shop serving local builders and architects. Over four decades it grew into a full-service architectural millwork operation — but the way we work has not changed much. Drawings still get reviewed at the bench. Hardwood still gets selected by hand. Finishers still walk a panel from the spray booth to the loading dock themselves.

Today the shop runs CNC routers, edge banders, and a finishing line alongside the original benches. New tools, same standard. The result is millwork that holds up in lobbies, boardrooms, healthcare campuses, restaurants, and private homes across the Detroit area and the Midwest.

Leadership

Meet James Bolitho.

President, Sterling Millwork

James leads Sterling Millwork from the shop floor — one roof, one crew, one phone number, and a standard that does not move. The work stays honest because the person running it walks the bench himself.

One project manager, one phone number, one crew that owns the job from estimate through punch — that is how James runs the shop. Drawings get reviewed at the bench. Estimates come back when promised. The standard does not move.

James Bolitho, President of Sterling Millwork, at his executive workstation

What We Do

Every Step, Under One Roof.

A project handed off three times loses something in each pass. We keep the whole job on one floor — from the first sketch to the punch list.

Carpenter laying out a panel from drawings

Design & Drawings

AWI-compliant shop drawings and submittals produced in-house by our project managers.

Operator loading panels onto a CNC router

Fabrication

CNC machining, panel processing, and bench assembly — run by craftsmen with decades on the floor.

Finisher applying spray finish to a panel

Finishing

Staining, lacquer, painted finishes, and conversion varnish — sprayed in our own booth, never sublet.

Carpenter at a tool station on the shop floor

Installation

Our own crews handle site delivery and install. One number to call from estimate through final punch.

What Sets Us Apart

The Things We Do Not Outsource.

Forty years on one shop floor.

Founded in 1982 and still operating out of the same Southeast Michigan facility. The work has changed; the standard has not.

Drawings, build, and install in-house.

Every phase of the work happens under our roof. Submittals are clean, the schedule is real, and accountability does not get handed off.

CNC precision, hand-bench finish.

We run CNC routers, edge banders, and panel saws — but the finish still gets walked off the bench by someone who has been here twenty years.

One project manager, end to end.

Every job is owned by a single PM from estimate through warranty. GCs and owners get one phone number and a name that picks up.

Air conditioned shop.

Our facility is fully air conditioned — year-round climate control that protects the wood and keeps the crew working at their best through Michigan summers and winters alike.

Lumber storage racks at Sterling Millwork

Work With Us

Have a Project in Mind?

Send us your drawings, your sketch, or just a description.
We will respond with a budget, a schedule, and a project manager who answers the phone.

Start a Project