Shop Talk: F&M Concrete Castings

Shop Talk

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November 27, 2010

Shop Talk: F&M Concrete Castings

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Mon Dec 06, 2010, 08:08 AM EST

Shop Talk is a weekly column featuring locally owned and operated businesses. This week, we talk to Frank and Marie Stanley of F&M Concrete Castings in Otego.

How long have you lived in the area?

Marie Stanley: I moved here about 40 years ago, and Frank is a longtime resident as well.

Tell me about your business:

Marie: We cast concrete countertops for kitchens, bathrooms and anywhere a counter space is needed. Frank attended a specialized school this past spring for hands-on training, and this training added even more to his lifetime experience with construction and masonry work. We make custom tops any color of the spectrum, multicolored, with patterns, and we have many inlay options as well. The concrete tops are very durable, becoming more durable with time and easy to clean, along with many features such as rims and tops that drain toward the sink.

Frank Stanley: The casting that we do does not resemble concrete at all due to the silky smooth finish, inlays of stones, tiles, colored glass and color options (that) make our countertops different than any other product on the market now.

Describe a typical day in your business:

Marie: Right now F&M Concrete Castings is creating relationships with custom builders, along with kitchen and bath designers that would like to offer their customers this unique, new option. We go to places that might be interested, tell them about the process and products, give color tile samples and leave them with our contact information when they are ready to learn more.

How did you get started in this line of work?

Marie: Frank always has these great ideas and he has been involved with home design products for a great deal of time. He had been considering a related line of work that he could run on his own and he heard about this new process with concrete. He asked me what I thought of it and I said “Why not!”

Frank: I have been working with concrete and masonry since I was 16, and this new process is an amazing technique that I have the background, experience and training to create.

Where do you see this business in five years?

Marie: Maybe sooner than five years, but ideally we would like to have our product featured at 20 to 30 kitchen and bath places. In the near future we will have displays and models in the Kuntriset Kitchen and Bath Center in Norwich. If business progresses as we have planned, the next big step would be to have a building with a shop for constructing, a showroom and offices.

Describe a memorable moment in your workplace:

Frank: Seeing a finished product that was made from scratch, custom designed and set into the exact place that it was created to fit into is memorable.

What have you learned from your work?

Frank: I have learned a lot despite being in the business for so many years; there are a great deal of specific technical skills involved. I have learned that this is not a “do-it-yourself” homeowner’s project. The chemistry, math and component challenges all need a great deal of patience and attention to detail.

What is the most challenging part of what you do?

Marie: Moving large, completed and custom concrete countertops, along with putting them into place, is challenging. Pieces may weigh up to and over 750 pounds.

Frank: Yes, the weight of each piece has to be carefully planned, along with knowing the stress points when moving them and setting them into place.

The most enjoyable?

Marie: Seeing a finished piece put into place is amazing, knowing the work and craftsmanship that went into making it look perfect; it is very exciting.

Frank: Another enjoyable part of this business is a project we have just completed and donated, an F&M Concrete Castings countertop for the new Habitat for Humanity home on Mills Avenue in Oneonta.

How do you define success for your business?

Frank: Success is the beautiful finished product, custom-made for the client and set into place. Success will also come when we expand enough to have a showroom, construction building and office with a constantly growing number of customers so that we are able to provide more jobs for this area.

What are some advantages as well as drawbacks of doing business in this area?

Marie: The economy makes things difficult for everyone, not just in this area, and that is certainly a drawback. Advantages to doing business in this area are that our business fits into the going-green movement, it is local and the product is sustainable.

Frank: Advantages to doing business here are that we live here and we are here to stay.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

Marie: That’s an easy question to answer because currently we have no competition; we are the first in this region to begin creating this type and style. I believe that we are the only ones in about a 100-mile radius.

Frank: Not necessarily competitors, but contractors who are trying to make the concrete countertops when they have not been adequately trained, and their mistakes can affect people’s opinion of my product.

What advice would you give to someone trying to enter your field of work?

Frank: This field of work requires math and chemistry, construction trades training and lots of experience. The hands-on experience needed for someone interested in this field of work is at the very least one year.

For more information about Shop Talk, or to suggest a business, call 432-1000, ext. 217, or e-mail news@thedailystar.com.