Masonry Magazine May 1979 Page. 16
Pride in craftsmanship is reflected in mason contractor Cliff Landers' face as he stands in front of a brick home he recently completed in St. Louis County.
IN THE MIDWEST
Home-buying Public's Preference for Masonry on the Upswing In St. Louis
E. C. "Cliff" Landers and his wife, Beatrice, operate a mason contracting firm in St. Louis County, Mo. Cliff has been a bricklayer since 1939 and a mason contractor since 1948. His current business is 80 percent residential and 20 percent commercial, while employing 20 bricklayers. His son-in-law, Bill Dwyer, is a bricklayer and is involved in the business.
Cliff is quick to stress that the real problem with masonry in the St. Louis residential market is that many home builders have marked up the masonry portion of the home so high that the buyer has gotten the mistaken impression that he cannot afford brick or stone on his home.
"With most of the home builders in the St. Louis market being essentially carpentry contractors, they don't really care if they put brick on the house at all," Cliff says. "It's a real credit to masonry materials and craftsmanship that the home-buying public's desire for brick has increased while the desire for wood siding homes has gone down over the last ten years."
Cliff refuses to do business with home builders who put an unfair markup on brickwork. He adds that the masonry craftsmanship as well as the productivity of the bricklayer and the mason tender today are "as good as ever."
Cliff is encouraged by the increased demand for masonry fireplaces in the homes that he works on. Statistically backing him up is an authoritative industry source that says this increased demand has risen over 17 percent during the last four years.
Cliff is a dedicated fisherman and takes a lot of kidding from his fellow contractors about spending more time on the lakes than on the job. But his work always gets finished on time and with a high degree of craftsmanship, quality, and beauty.
The stone veneer work done by Landers enhances this house recently constructed in St. Louis County.
Landers checks out a beautiful stone fireplace he built.