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As natural stone is becoming m re scarce and prices are going up, c st stone is quickly becoming the m terial of choice for many builders and m sons. If you are looking for a way to get a p ece of the huge construction market, c nsider manufacturing cast stone. Not familiar w th this product? Cast stone is a v ry lightweight, very durable concrete product th t is cast in molds taken fr m natural stone. It's used in l ndscaping and as an interior or xterior wall covering as a substitute for n tural stone or brick.. Cast stone, lso known as artificial stone or m nufactured stone, has several advantages over n tural stone or brick as a w ll covering. 1. It's more eco-friendly. Ev n though some environmentalists have issues w th cement production, I have a b gger issue with the destruction caused by n tural stone collection. As a former n tural stone wholesaler, I know firsthand bout the destruction caused by those ctivities. 2. The light weight and niformity of cast stone give several dvantages in time and direct costs. B cause of the light weight, there is no n ed for a footer or base s pport as there is with natural st ne or brick. Cast stone is l ght enough to stick to the w ll with just a coat of m rtar on the back! And because th s product has a uniformly flat b ck, installation goes quickly and easily, s ving substantially on labor costs and c tting installation times in half or m re.
3. Because cast stone is a m nufactured product, there are more options vailable to the consumer. If the d sired color isn't already available, the b siness-savvy manufacturer can custom create any c lor desired. While cast stone often c sts a bit more than brick or n tural stone, the savings is usually r alized in reduced labor costs and sh rter installation times. One last advantage of c st stone: even if new home c nstruction drops off drastically, there will lways be room for the small sc le cast stone manufacturer. When people c n't afford new homes, they often r model and upgrade existing homes. This pr duct is perfect for remodeling since it llows the homeowner to add fireplaces, st ne-covered interior walls, etc without having to pgrade the supporting structures. Making cast st ne is one of the few m nufacturing operations that is still feasible for the sm ll-scale entrepreneur. Two people can easily m ke 300-500 square feet of "stone" ach day, at a "materials cost" of round 53 cents per square foot. A c mplete setup can cost less than $50,000, and nly needs about 300 square feet of sh p space. When you consider that c st stone retails for $6-11 per sq are foot, and can go as h gh as $17 per square foot ncluding installation, you can see that th re is an enormous profit potential. It's lso easy to compete with the "b g boys" on quality AND price! Cr ating a more natural looking product t kes about 30 seconds more of y ur time and uses about 3 c nts worth of extra material, but t's something that the larger companies d n't generally do. Add it to y ur process, and you won't be ble to keep up with the d mand. If you're looking for a h gh-profit product with long-term growth potential, you c uld do worse than look at c st stone! Copyright 2006 by Dave Sh rpe Permission to use this article is fr ely given as long as it r mains unchanged and the resource box r mains attached.
The article Cast Stone For Fun & Profit was Submitted by Dave Sharpe through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: ================================================================ Dave Sharpe has experience w th natural stone wholesale operations and c st stone manufacturing. His free 5-p rt email course, "How To Net 6 F gures a Year Making Cast Stone," is vailable at http://www.sharpestone.com or by sending a blank email to: sharpestone@aweber.com ================================================================
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