Masonry Magazine May 1979 Page. 18
California Developers Credit
Masonry for Their Business Success
continued from page 17
"The owners are convinced that masonry definitely enhances appearance, which has contributed to the sales of their homes," says Lutman. Irvine Pacific Corp. is equally sold on masonry, and its residential townhomes being built in the Irvine area of Woodbridge show wide-ranging use of stone and brick exterior veneer. Most of the new buildings have three or four fireplaces.
Entrance into the masonry industry started for Darrell Lutman in 1956, after serving in the Navy. He worked as a mason tender in the Orange County area for about three years before becoming a bricklayer. Ten years later he earned his mason contractor's license, and began business. In addition to the many large tracts of homes he has worked on in Orange County, Lutman has also done individual custom homes and small commercial jobs. He has built his business over the past ten years from a one-man outfit to the company that currently keeps between 60 and 100 workers on the payroll.
Within the industry, he is current president of the Orange County Chapter of the California Conference of Mason Contractor Associations, and is active in apprenticeship, trust funds, and industry promotion.
A Lutman-built home in Irvine, California.
Mason Contractors Find Their Niche
Amid Oregon's Lumber Industry
continued from page 11
"It seems," Martinson muses about those years, "that I spent all my time as a residential contractor just cleaning up and moving on."
Seeking some form of permanence and no longer able to devote the "personal touch which every fireplace deserves," Martinson began concentrating more on commercial work. About 10 years ago, when the residential market became flooded with small mason contractors and prices went down, he decided to go strictly commercial. "I could see the handwriting on the wall," Martinson says glibly.
Handwriting or not, Martinson has kept his trowel in the residential market. His skill as a commercial contractor has led him to complete more than half the brickwork during construction of Lane Community College; it will soon take him to the county fairgrounds for a sizable remodeling job. But his lingering concern for the personal touch and a sense of fulfillment received from intricate home construction work makes him an easy mark for old clients who have a special residential project in mind.
18 MASONRY/MAY, 1979
Arizona Masonry Industry Puts Dent
Into Stick Frame Construction
continued from page 13
Most of Young's work continues to be for Riggs, with the remainder for other small residential developers building homes, room additions and yard fencing "when we can work them in. Again, it's a matter of control." he emphasizes. "We really haven't had to 'go after' business through advertising or other promotions. Instead, we get jobs almost totally on a referral basis, letting our work and the way we do business speak for themselves."
And, in an area whose masonry industry has maintained the competitive advantage based on quality, Ed Young and AAA Masonry have done very well, thank you.
Special Acknowledgements
Masonry gratefully acknowledges and thanks those individuals named below who were instrumental in providing the written and photographic materials that comprise this story on residential masonry construction in various regions of the nation. Without their invaluable cooperation and contributions, this special feature would not have been possible.
► John A. Heslip, Masonry Institute of Michigan, Farmington Hills.
► Carl Horstrup, Southern Oregon Masonry Industry Fund, Eugene.
►Bob Long. Executive Council, California Conference of Mason Contractor Associations, Los Angeles.
►Colin Munro, Chicago Masonry Institute, Park Ridge, Illinois.
►Bill Pautler, Masonry Institute of St. Louis, Missouri.
►Paul Rosensteel, Arizona Masonry Guild, Phoenix.