A hard business, but someone has to do it

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Hidden away on the outskirts of Fort Collins is a manufacturing plant that produces rock. Well, not exactly rock, but a darn good likeness.

EarthStone Products is a small company making artificial stone veneer and patio pavers, products that are prettying up homes in Larimer County and all across the country. According to owner Tad Couture, some people who arrive at EarthStone are surprised to learn that about 90 percent of the "rock" now decorating homes and shopping malls is artificial.

Couture, who studied business management and marketing in college, saw a need for quality artificial rock when he was doing a veneer installation himself. He comes from an entrepreneurial family, so he thought he could fill the bill himself. After a lot of trial and error, he came up with a good mold technology and the right recipe for the cement mixture.

EarthStone now makes two lines of products: stone veneer in a variety of styles and colors, and patio pavers. Styles range from river rock to faced strip stone that's similar to the stone in Old Town's historic buildings. "A lot of what we do is an imitation of stone found in this area," Couture said, so it fits well into the Colorado environment.

The company has customers from Cheyenne to Colorado Springs, with 90 percent of its business coming from repeat customers and word-of-mouth advertising. Couture takes pride in his product and said he has not had one customer complaint in his six years in business.

There are two primary advantages of artificial stone veneer: its light weight and the cost. It's much easier for contractors to handle, so the installed price is generally about half that of natural stone. Other advantages include the varieties of color and style available and the ability to use it in remodeling jobs. With natural stone, Couture pointed out, the home has to be designed for the weight of stone when it's first built. Artificial stone can be used when people want to dress up an existing home, inside or out; it can even be attached to drywall.

Besides its use as an exterior veneer, artificial stone is often used for indoor fireplaces and accent walls. "It has become very accepted," Couture said, "and has allowed the homebuyer a viable alternative to brick or natural stone."

EarthStone's patio pavers are an alternative to flagstone. Their uniform size and thickness make for ease of installation and also allow for geometric or circular patterns on a patio.

There's also an environmental advantage to using artificial stone, a fact that becomes evident when one takes a drive through the Masonville area with its quarrying operations. "Sometimes people don't realize the impact of using natural stone," Couture said, noting the scarred landscape that's left after the stone is removed.

Couture's six employees turn out 600 to 800 square feet of product every day, a volume that is small in the homebuilding world. However, Couture noted, the company keeps an ample supply of products on hand, so generally orders can be filled quickly.

"I'm a fan of natural stone," Couture said, "but sometimes it's not feasible to use." His product allows more people to get the look of stone - at an affordable price. "We're doing what we set out to do," he said. "We're making a better product that satisfies what the customers are looking for."