J. Gibson McIlvain Company

09/17/2026

A project in progress spotlight of a gorgeous home in Annapolis being built by Bayview Builders, LLC and designed by Hammond Wilson. Our millwork division had the opportunity to make the cabinetry for this w**e room and once we walked past the distraction of the indoor golf simulator we were able to film some of the cabinets going in. Beautiful work and so exciting to see this home nearing the finish line.

09/16/2026

Whenever a visitor comes to our finishing room they are appalled when they see us priming deep red Sapele. Personally it creates a reaction in me too. But upon further questioning it becomes apparent most people think paint is enough protection against the elements. The truth is paint can actually accelerate the decay of wood underneath making a quality exterior grade species even more important.

08/31/2026

Wood changes color due to all kinds of reasons. Mostly sunlight but even oxygen causes it to change. When a board is freshly milled you will see a very different color than even a few hours later. An exotic, oil rich species like Teak is a great example of this change. But sometimes waiting for it to mellow in color just isn't in the cards and you need a shortcut. In this video I show one way to pull it off and turn 3 days of oxidizing into a 10 minute application. Granted this application doesn't scale well so I think the bigger takeaway here is that wood changes color from the moulder/planer pretty dramatically in most species. Either plan to take a finishing step to ameliorate the change or plan into your build time for the wood to change color on its own.

Freshly milled teak can display dramatic color variation ranging from cream and orange to dark brown and green. Learn why it happens and how woodworkers can accelerate the natural color blending process.

08/28/2026

Sometimes we need to let certain packs of lumber stay on the yard a little longer for “natural” reasons. Baby birds born on Teak boards are stronger anyway.

08/27/2026

Do you get confused when a lumber company tries to sell you 4/4, 8/4 or some other fractional dimension? What does this "quarter" terminology mean? Beyond the actual thickness of a board it can tell quite a bit about what you are getting and how much manufacturing is already done to that board.

Let's take a look at the lumber thickness terms 4/4, 8/4, 12/4, etc and what else it can tell the buyer other than thickness.

08/14/2026

Inside ship lap and outside crown as well as several cabinetry elements showing up on this stunning Bayview Builders, LLC waterfront home in sight of the Naval Academy. Such a pleasure to work with Bayview and Hammond Wilson to help realize the dream of this home. Every detail was considered and then some. More on this project coming soon here.

08/11/2026

No it’s not an MC Escher painting. Just a crown moulding job running through the mill today. File this under artsy wood shots I walked by today.

08/10/2026

New projects underway at our millwork partner ICD. Doors, cabinets, gates and some big beams. Always fun to take a peek into the shop floor.

08/04/2026

A load of Ipe slatted benches loaded up and heading out to Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse square. If you escaped the heat of the day in the shade of this lovely park you have experienced our millwork. Let’s hope the coffee was good and the conversation better.

07/17/2026

Wondered about the movement with modified and natural woods? There is some movement with modified products but not a lot. But here is a fun look at what happens when you don’t follow the best practices with wood and moisture and managing movement.