Masonry Magazine February 2003 Page. 14
Contractor
MCAA member contractors respond to the industry issues of the day.
Steve Borman, President,
Keystone Masonry, Inc.
Keystone started out in November of 1987, primarily working on residential construction, as well as small or light commercial. They moved into commercial work in the early 90s, and are now looking to branch out into custom, high-end stonework. We spoke with Borman just after a Masonry Institute of Washington meeting, in conjunction with the Washington State Contractors of Masonry Contractors, to standardize the details used by architects in employing masonry products in their buildings. "If successful, and I think we will be, in standardizing those details, architects who might choose to design with our products will be more inclined to use them," says Borman.
Masonry: What do you feel has been the key to your company's success and growth over the years?
Borman: Basically, success is a result of completing projects on schedule and maintaining the standard of quality that is required, not only by the architect and owner, but by the industry itself. If a contractor can meet those requirements, both in scheduling and quality, then they're bound to be successful. Oftentimes, there's a conflict between schedule and quality - that's an on-going problem that everyone addresses in their own fashion.
Masonry: Keystone has won two awards at the Masonry Institute of Washington's 2002 Masonry Excellence Awards in November. Tell us a little more about these projects and what you feel made them stand out as award-winning work.
Borman: They were difficult projects, and we often like to focus on the more difficult projects. For instance, Hazen High School's auditorium was a large, radius structure. Both the CMU and the brick needed to be laid in a radius, which is often a challenging task to keep your vertical and horizontal lines true. It's obviously the most salient feature of the building and it's quite attractive because of that. Using masonry to create curves is an interesting challenge. If it's done well, it adds a whole new dimension to masonry construction. The key is having highly skilled craftsmen doing the work.
The eye-catcher on the Western State Hospital is the inset panels over the first floor windows. The brickwork is laid diagonally at 45 degrees, and that presented a compelling challenge. A good portion of the units laid were mitered. Aligning all of those miters is a difficult task. To achieve this, we fabricated those inset panels in our construction yard. It allowed us to conduct simultaneous activities, both onsite and offsite we were building the panels, while we were running up the brick veneer in the field. We trucked the panels to the job site and bolted them to the backup CMU wall. It was a measure that we took to maintain a high quality of work while expediting the schedule.
Masonry: In addition to these awards, Keystone has won last year as well. How has this affected your business?
Borman: It's prestigious to win awards for quality craftsmanship, certainly. Most of the work that Keystone acquires is hard bid work, so regardless of how many awards you've won, you still have to be the low bidder to get the next job on public works projects, even in the private sector. I think the greatest effect is the prestige that it affords the craftsmen who work for us and do the work onsite. If they go to the awards ceremony with us and they are presented an award for their craftsmanship, it only encourages them to maintain that level of quality on future projects. I haven't necessarily acquired a great deal of work as a result of having won awards. This is not true for architects, however, hence the design awards are primarily for them.
Masonry: Keystone Masonry is now investing in a website design. What made you come to the decision to invest in a website and how do you plan on using it now and in the future?
Borman: Keystone is moving increasingly into custom stonework on commercial, as well as high-end
If there is an earthquake or some major seismic event, the press is out in force taking pictures of bricks that are lying on the sidewalk.