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Free Idea: Caststone Fireplace Business

December 21, 2007

caststoneI am always telling people ideas are worthless ~ execution is priceless.  So I am going to start giving away my ideas (good and bad) to see if anyone will ’steal’ them (FYI - please steal my idea ~ oh and if you had it first, I didn’t steal it from you).  I thought this one might be good, but I am too busy and I found a potential weakness.  I will explain all below: 

This summer I began renovation of an older home in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas (pictures here).  All three fireplace mantels in the house needed to be updated and I immediately thought that caststone mantels might do the trick.  After looking around I decided that the cost, between $3,000 and $6,000 per mantel was a little outside of my budget (especially since I planned to put a 50" plasma over each).  More recently my Mom told me she was considering replacing her mantels (my parents are renovating a house as well) with caststone.  Her research confirmed the pricing I had previously obtained.  Then an idea struck me.  How hard could it be to actually make a caststone mantel? 

I began to research cast stone and realized it has been used in buildings since 1138.  It can be made from white or grey cements, mixed with manufactured or natural sands and crushed stone (or natural gravel or mineral color pigments).  According to my favorite source, Wikipedia, most ‘cast stone is a Portland cement-based architectural precast concrete product manufactured using high quality fine and coarse aggregate as its primary constituents. Simulated stone, or look-alike products made with alternative ingredients such as gypsum, lightweight products, glass fiber, calcium silicate, stucco and other materials are less durable and not nearly as well time-tested. The use of a high percentage of fine aggregate creates a very smooth, consistent texture for the building elements being cast, resembling natural cut stone. Other ingredients such as chemical admixtures, pozzolans, and pigments also may be added.’

Without too much trouble I was able to determine that I could make a cast stone mantel for around $500 in material and labor.  Wow, the margins in this business are really good.  The major costs are a) advertsing/sales b) shipping c) inventory and d) storage.  My idea was rather simple.  First, we would develop a brand identity i.e. Westminster Stone Works for example.  Then we would build a website to drive Google traffic and other advertising traffic to.  Then we would have ten negative forms built - i.e. our standard mantel designs.  Next, we would contact small concrete contractors in each major market and offer them a turnkey business for a small fee - creating our ‘dealers’.  Once someone in LA would order a mantel, we would sell the appropriate form to the dealer as well as our proprietary mix and the contractor would make the mantel and deliver it within a week (about the same time it would take to ship a pre-made mantel from Dallas).  The idea is to eliminate all shipping, inventory and storage expensese, or at least push them to the edge and make them the ‘dealers’ problem.  Dealers would be allowed to sell our mantels directly (without comission), as long as they didn’t use our brand or advertise (electronic, print, tv).

This sounded like a neat little business, but then my Mom found a small shop that would carve a real marble or stone fireplace for half the cost of the cast stone.  What!  You are kidding, you can get the REAL thing for half?  Turns out they will customize the size, design ~ everything and deliver it in three weeks.  WOW.  They are made in Mexico.  The only issue is that they can only handle a limit number of orders (I bet I could come up with a way to increase their production capabilities).  In the meantime, I decided not to pursue the cast stone fireplace business, so you are free to steal it ~ Westminster Stone Works = $0.00.

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog 

Comments

4 Responses to “Free Idea: Caststone Fireplace Business”

  1. Karl Katzke Says:
    December 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pm

    Alex, you missed the main cost of caststone fireplaces: Bad casts. There’s a number of things that will ruin a cast, from the temperature and humidity at the time the concrete is poured (which can be compensated by changing the mix slightly) on down to the drying process.

    With fireplaces, it’s especially hard because they’re then exposed to a decent amount of heat. If you have an air bubble anywhere in the final product, it has a chance of expanding to the point where it will crack the mantel. If you don’t believe me, talk to a couple of potters that do casts — ask them how many they’ve had explode in the kiln or crack mysteriously a year after they’ve made the cast while it’s sitting on the windowsill in direct sunlight…

    The other cost you didn’t take into account is finishing. You still do have to knock off the rough edges of the cast and fix any spots where you had surface puckers.

    The one caststone manufacturer that I know does some form of NDT (non-destructive testing) on the final product to make sure that there aren’t any hidden cracks or air bubbles and that the cast dried properly all the way through.

  2. Alexander Muse Says:
    December 22nd, 2007 at 11:26 pm

    Karl, thanks for the information. We had assumed a cost associated with ’seconds’ as well as as finishing. In any event, I still can’t beat the real thing for half the cost. Here in Dallas you can get the real thing at:

    Stone by Design Inc.
    1824 Market Center Blvd.
    Dallas, Texas 75207

    214-749-5773
    Cell 214-693-3595
    Contact Jaime Montana

  3. Mike Leal Says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    I have used these “Carved Stone” Travertine Products on some of my Client’s projects who have tried “Pre-Cast” in the past and have had great success with the end result.. The Cut Travetine is also a good idea to use on the exterior Architectural Trimmings used in today’s New Construction. The real stone holds up a lot better and looks just great (new and in the long term). I have seen a lot of pre-cast material gain mold deposits or suffer chemical reactions that cause blemishing over time.

  4. By The Fireside Says:
    June 11th, 2008 at 6:43 am

    Interesting article… I installed a a caststone fireplace last Friday..

    The lady loved it!

    Buck

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