Whether you are looking to install a bathroom vanity, design a fireplace or tackle a complete kitchen overhaul, Indy Custom Stone can help you select, create and install the job. They do a lot of new construction, remodels, design work and commercial projects, utilizing granite, quartz and marble.
While a lot of fabricators don’t want their customers to work with the product directly, the team at Indy Custom Stone feels differently.
“We let our customers get involved as much as they want with the process by picking out their slab and figuring out the parts of the stone they want to use,” says John Lunsford, president of Indy Custom Stone. “This gives them a visual of what it’s going to look like before we do the work.”
For instance, recently a client came into the showroom and the team laid out five slabs, allowing the customer to choose the one she wanted for her island and another for her full-height backsplash.
“We were able to tape it off and show her what it was going to look like before we actually cut it,” Lunsford says.
Indy Custom Stone has a 12,000-square-foot, full-slab showroom in Carmel that includes more than 1,500 slabs as well as remnants (leftover pieces of stone) are available for purchase. They also have a fabrication shop that’s another 12,000 square feet, in addition to a wide selection of online inventory.
“A customer can go to our website to see our live inventory of all the different materials we have,” Lunsford says. “If you’ve got a smaller project, you can also go to Remnants, type in the length and width of your project, and our website will pull everything from our live inventory that will work.”
This online aspect allows homeowners to do a lot of their research before they even come into the store. If they hit the “Inquire” button on an item, then type in their name, email address and phone number, the sales team will send a price and confirm availability. Currently they have more than 800 remnants in stock.
“Many people don’t realize how big we are,” says Lunsford, noting that they are one of the top-five largest granite companies in central Indiana. “People are surprised when they come to our showroom and see what all we can do.”
They use a robotic dual table saw that has a water jet and saw blade on it. The saw blade enables them to make long, linear cuts, while the water jet lets them cut circles and curves for products like sinks.
They do CNC stone fabrication, which refers to the process of using computer numerical control machinery to cut, shape and polish stone material.
“We are a full digital stone fabricator,” Lunsford says. “That means we laser template. We do custom CAD Slabsmith layouts, which are specialized 3D renderings of your countertops before they are installed so clients can see the veins in the material or vein matching.”
The CNC machine allows them to do different styles of custom edging. It also lets them do milling applications, where they can make material that’s thicker or thinner on different areas or on certain splashes if needed. Plus they can do miter work as well as waterfall edges, which gives countertops a sleek, modern look.
Lunsford and Co-owner Brad Nelson started the company in 2014. The pair each have more than 20 years of experience in the industry. After a decade, they have 38 full-time employees, many of whom have been there since 2014.
Currently full-height backsplashes are popular, as is using countertop material for wall application. Custom fireplaces wrapped in stone are also trending.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fluting on the fronts of cabinet faces, countertops and backsplashes,” Lunsford says. “We’ve done a lot of door fronts in the countertop material too.”
Many homeowners are requesting custom showers where the walls utilize the countertop material, almost like a shower without grout. Instead of using tile, they do large slab pieces on the walls.
“Say you have a 9-foot shower back wall,” Lunsford says. “We’ll do that in a full slab, and then do the sidewalls of 3 feet on both sides so it looks like a piece of stone. Then we seam it together where you don’t see grout lines.”
As the team celebrates its 10-year anniversary, they are not slowing down one bit. They average five to 10 walk-ins per day, and schedule five to 10 daily appointments as well.
“We’re so busy because new-construction homes haven’t slowed down either,” says Lunsford, noting that they are working on custom homes in Holliday Farms in Zionsville, Chatham Hills in Westfield, and the Home-A-Rama event, which will take place in September in Zionsville’s new Promontory neighborhood.
Indy Custom Stone is located at 564 Industrial Drive in Carmel. For more information, call 317-877-1000 or visit indycustomstone.com.
