Diamond Bullnosing Co., Inc.

Complete Stone Services - Outstanding Quality, Uncommon Service in the East Bay

By Tonya Poole

By nature, contractors are only as good as their team of sub-contractors and suppliers - many of whom serve as a builder's representative throughout each job - and reputations across the industry are built and broken by the people and products a builder selects to fill that role. If anyone fails to come through, or come through well, the project, its schedule and the homeowner's perception of the experience are jeopardized.

Although the Bay Area construction market has no shortage of sub and supplier options to tap, the balance between a superior subcontractor and a readily available one has been an elusive catch - leaving builders with a tough choice: hold out for high quality and risk costly delays, or cut corners to get the job done on time and on budget. Even for the very best subs, the growing pains that often result from an explosion in referral business can leave everyone scrambling, risking more headaches for both builder and homeowner.

But every now and then a team of specialists hits the radar who, despite the challenges that face us all in the marketplace, has been able to harness supply and demand and strike the right balance between growth and accommodation. Caterina Vaticano of family-owned and operated Diamond Bullnosing Company in Concord knows how critical staying atop the wave of business is, and how growth, while exciting, needs to be well managed to be successful.

"Domenick and I have been very careful about not overextending ourselves just in the spirit of growing the business," says Caterina, CEO at Diamond and a strong, dynamic leader in a traditionally male-dominated market. "We've been careful not to stick our necks out too far until we've felt that we could still deliver the same caliber of quality at a higher volume, so we've spent time mastering that."

Natural and engineered stone fabricators and installers, Diamond Bullnosing started small when they opened their doors just six years ago as a three-person shop. But word of mouth and a quickly growing reputation as the highest quality product and service in the East Bay soon pulled them to the forefront of the market - bringing growth and an opportunity to make a larger impact on the local construction and remodel industry with it. Today, Diamond's team has grown to more than 40 people, and the company is diversifying and gearing up for expansion into the builder market.

But while the changes and risks inherent in growth result in some rough bumps in the road for many of us, the Vaticanos met the challenge head on - with measured expansion, smart strategies and harnessing the leading-edge technology that will keep business moving without sacrificing the quality their reputation had been built on. Refusing to compromise standards, the team has mastered the processes necessary to meet demanding production schedules while delivering outstanding workmanship - a tough combination to harness, particularly in fabrication.

"As with any industry, when there's a hot commodity, the market gets infiltrated by an enormous amount of people that want to ride on the coattails of success," say Caterina. "So what we end up with is a lot of players who've decided they'll make their living opening a granite fabrication shop. But the quality of product and the quality of service and installation just isn't there."

The trouble is, she says, that it's often hard for builders with a lot of subcontractors to manage and a lot of decisions on their plate to find time to do enough research to make a solid differentiation between the chop shops and the real pros. But that differentiation is critical - and the wrong choice can result in a shoddy product for the homeowner, and a nightmare for the builder when there's no one standing behind it.

Even the better shops often get caught up in growth and trying to meet market demands, and without proper planning, quality and service can both suffer. But with an intimate understanding of those challenges, and a strong background in project management, Caterina, set out to beat the status quo.

"We knew we had the quality, that's always been there," she says. "But now we needed a way to guarantee that our expansion wouldn't compromise that, and that we had the infrastructure in place to meet the schedules and demands of a fast-paced production market, too." Part of that commitment means spending a great deal of time in the marketplace, finding and evaluating the best machines available in fabrication - something Caterina and Domenick take on faithfully - and together they work to identify and develop the processes that will allow them to keep pace with new business.

Efficiency is key, and that means ensuring jobs are done right the first time. The Vaticanos have implemented mission-critical trade software and systems like red-note items (important details about each project) and extensive post-installation checklists to prevent details big and small from being overlooked or falling through the cracks. Homeowners and contractors both have an opportunity at the end of each job to inspect the work, answering questions about proper caulking, job clean-up, feature placement and other elements of the team's workmanship.

The machinery they've chosen not only increases Diamond Bullnosing's capacity, but helps them stay on the leading edge of the industry and able to work with the most current natural and engineered stone fabrication trends. The company's state-of-the-art showroom enables homeowners, architects and builders to come browse the array of choices and tap the team's expertise. But it's Diamond's staff that continues to push the company forward into its next chapter - meeting the demands of a changing market and continuously monitoring and refining what they do to stay true to their mission: providing the best quality product and installation at a dynamic market pace.

"We're here to be the specialist for contractors, so they don't have to know everything about marble or granite," says Caterina. "They can be good at what they do, because we're good at what we do."

Diamond Bullnosing Co., Inc. is a member of the Marble Institute of America, the National Kitchen and Bath Association, and the team has participated in community enrichment programs through Mount Diablo Habitat for Humanity, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and other activities. They've received the prestigious Diamond Certification designation from the American Ratings Corporation, and are considered by Caesarstone to be one of the country's premier fabricators of the manufacturer's exclusive product line.

Diamond Bullnosing is located in Concord. For more information call them at (925) 685-7100 or visit 4stone.com

November 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue

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