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From just a glance at the title, one might think that what is good for the mason is contrary, or in conflict, with what is good for the customer. In this article I am going to try to rationalize why that is NOT true — why the Win for One party is NOT the Loss for the Other party.

In reality, the dynamics in the entire market of real stone and real stone thin veneer have changed, and life can be a win-win for all involved.

First of all, it's hard for me to understand why the cost of labor to install real stone thin veneer would be any different than the cost to lay manufactured stone thin veneer. If you break manufactured stone to make it fit you have a problem hiding the chopped off end; whereas if you trim real stone thin veneer you don't have that problem. The guys that are good at it tell me they can lay an equivalent amount of either real or fake stone thin veneer in a day. The only thing I can think of is that some contractors may charge more to lay real stone thin veneer because of the "perceived value" of the final job. Obviously, real stone thin veneer — especially high quality, with natural tops, bottoms and ends — will look like a full bed depth job in real stone. There's no comparison between that look and fake.

Since customers generally pay a little more for real stone thin veneer than fake, I'm guessing some contractors will try to get whatever the market will bear. My prediction is that when the number of people accustomed to and experienced in laying real stone thin veneer becomes equal to the number experienced in laying fake, we will definitely see the labor rates come down. This has already started to happen since I originally published this article in August of 2010.

I believe a lot of this has to do with just understanding reality and mostly boils down to education. What needs to take place is a paradigm shift in people's thinking. Once experienced masons are enlightened that the philosophy I am trying to impart upon them is a win/win/win/win situation, I am hoping a light bulb will turn on and we'll all live happily ever after.

Here's what I'm talking about in true numbers. The day your average mason realizes the following facts and converts the numbers into acceptable logic, we will see labor rates fall.

Installation time for real stone thin veneer is just about the same as it is for manufactured (fake) stone thin veneer. The average mason can lay approximately four times as much thin veneer in a day as full bed depth stone — normally 160 feet per day versus 40. As a side benefit, the customer is elated that the "mess" of labor at his home or place of business is only there for one-quarter of the old time-frame.

Logic has it that if a masonry installer wanted to make the exact same amount of money per day installing thin veneer versus what he used to earn installing full bed depth ledge, he could charge one-quarter of the price.

Just a little deeper: if one mason laid 40 sq. ft. of real stone full bed depth ledge in one day and charged $25 per sq. ft., the labor bill for the day would be $1,000. In the same vein, if that same mason laid four times as much thin veneer stone in a day (real or fake) and charged one-quarter of his normal rate — $6.25 per sq. ft. for labor — his labor bill for the day would be the same $1,000. If $1,000 per day was acceptable earnings for installing full bed, why wouldn't $1,000 per day be acceptable for installing thin veneer? And why should there be any difference between whether the thin veneer was real stone or fake stone?

As a disclaimer: the above numbers are just for illustration purposes. Labor rates are diverse across America and certain places cost more than others because of many factors. Also, I'm the first to agree that all masons are not created equally, and you get more or less what you pay for. The final look of the job depends upon the installer — not the stone, not the architect, and not the person paying the bill.

I think if stone quarriers, stone fabricators, stone wholesalers and stone retailers work together, we can teach people in the installation trade how to better analyze this equation. First, they need to understand, accept and be pleased with the logic of the numbers. Second, they need to know how to actually install thin veneer stone. Third, everyone needs to understand the concept of everyone winning.

I want the mason to understand he is winning. He will earn just as much money, or more, installing real stone thin veneer as anything else he does. If he is running a crew, that crew can do more jobs in a year because each job is going two to four times as fast — meaning his company could double, triple or quadruple gross revenues. He'll also get more jobs if his rates are more reasonable. When labor decreases, the total cost of the job decreases. The less the total cost of the job, the more jobs that will be done because a larger number of people will be able to afford to have the work contracted.

The quadruple win: the ultimate consumer is paying less and getting more value for his expenditure. Positive word-of-mouth advertising is created — the best type. The mason is actually earning more money than he did before. With more jobs being done, the stone yards and building material companies are selling more thin veneer stone. And the quarrier and fabricator will sell more thin veneer stone to their dealers.

There is no doubt that the market is moving from a tolerance for fake stone to a preference for real thin veneer stone. My contention is that some people — tile setters, for example — will learn the trade and lay real stone thin veneer for less money than the guys controlling the market today. This is all positive news. If you didn't receive that feeling from your first read of this article — read it again!

I've published articles on this topic before and I'm going to cut and paste one here and add a few thoughts.

Why has the market moved to installing real stone thin veneer? Because the end use consumer is getting a better deal. The final cost of installing natural thin veneer stone on a personal residence or commercial building is the cost of both the stone and the labor combined. That cost equation has pushed the market from installing full bed depth natural stone in years gone by, to the majority of the market being the installation of natural stone thin veneer.

The big picture is this: the cost of labor has come down for installing "thin veneer" stone products as the knowledge and familiarity has risen on how to do it. Labor, in most markets around the United States, is a greater portion of the overall cost of installation than the actual stone product. Full bed stone products normally cost less than most real stone thin veneer products, and they are normally sold by the ton or pound. On average, most full bed products will yield 30–45 square feet per ton of coverage. Real stone thin veneer is normally sold by the square foot for "flats," and by the linear foot for "corners." In most cases the cost per sq. ft. or linear foot may be a bit higher than the converted cost of full bed product. This is logical as the cost of the thin veneer is the cost of the full bed stone plus the labor to convert it into thin veneer.

However, for the consumer, the savings is in the installation labor. We have surveyed many markets around the USA and Canada as we cover a wide area of distribution. It would be a fair statement to say that the cost of labor to install real stone thin veneer is, at a minimum, only half as expensive as the cost to install full bed real stone. In many markets that differential may be as much as 80% — in other words, the cost of installing natural stone thin veneer may be equal to paying only 20% of the cost of installing full bed natural stone in that market. The more expensive the labor in your market, the more true this is.

You'll have to do your own due diligence about finding the right mason for your job and estimating how much labor will cost you. However, no matter how much homework you do, I can almost guarantee the final cost of your project will always be less costly installing real stone thin veneer than real stone full bed material.

Many communities with higher standards of building requirements may require natural stone versus "fake" or man-made stone products. Natural stone thin veneer will meet almost any discriminating body, and will save the owner of the project money. With a high quality natural stone thin veneer, and a decent mason installer, no one will ever be able to tell the difference between a full bed versus thin veneer job.

Natural stone thin veneer is the real deal. It is just fabricated REAL STONE, either in a processing plant, or occasionally on the job. Unlike fake (aka "cultured" or "manufactured") stone — which is made of concrete, plaster and paint products — real stone thin veneer is a sawn-off portion of the real version of the full stone (100% made by nature). It has all the properties of the full bed stone, including its hardness, color and natural beauty. It will not fade or deteriorate like the man-made imitations.

If fabricated in a high quality environment, the processor will normally saw off the front and rear rise of the natural ledgestone. Picture taking a brick-shaped piece of a full size stone and sawing off the front and back faces to yield a natural face, and natural surface top, bottom and ends. The normal specification is for the stone to have a new thickness of approximately 1" – 1 3/8" and a maximum weight of under 15 lbs per square foot. Natural looking corners are achieved the same way — however more waste is involved if the product is high enough quality to be sawn to have all natural ends.

At our company, as a quarrier of real stone and also a fabricator of natural stone thin veneer, we don't really care which product is being sold — but the reality is that the consumer has pushed the market towards natural stone thin veneer because the total job cost is less expensive doing it that way. It all makes perfect sense, dollars and cents!

As a final thought, I will say that the cheapest installer may not be the one you are looking for. Ultimately, the final look of your job comes down to the guy or crew doing the installation and you need to evaluate your desired outcome with your budget. Just like you may not choose the most expensive nor the least expensive stone, you may not want to choose the most expensive nor least expensive installer.

It is very unlikely a non-professional could successfully install full bed natural stone. However, it is possible that an average handyman can install real stone thin veneer, and may really enjoy the process and reap great satisfaction.

Whether your job is huge, like an entire community project, or small, like re-surfacing a single fireplace — real stone thin veneer is going to be your best bet for the most cost-effective way to proceed. If we can help in the decision making, we'd be happy to assist. Please feel free to call or message us. Best of luck with your project!