Stone Solutions
With summer just around the corner, homeowners in central Indiana may be looking for ways to spruce up their home. JJC Countertops offers a great way to refresh any space with a wide variety of natural stone to choose from. Whether it’s building an outdoor kitchen for grilling on the weekends or a basement bar remodel, they are here to help.
JJC Countertops creates custom countertops, islands, vanities and fireplaces. They use materials such as granite, quartzite, marble, porcelain and quartz to make beautiful, unique pieces.
“We’ve been in business since 2022. This idea took shape and became a reality when we were in our current job at the time. We were looking for more opportunities. We learned about the process and how to treat customers and how to handle their expectations. We worked part time at our other jobs while we worked on getting this business up and running,” says co-owner Carlos Caldera.
Caldera is in charge of sales, Jonathan Valbuena is the operations manager, and Jose Romero helps in both areas of the business. They also have another business partner, Clemente Romero.
“Jonathan is the one who has more experience. He has 10 years in the industry. Jose has six years, and I have around four years. All of us come from Venezuela. We are basically family. Jonathan was the one who introduced Jose to the industry. Everyone was learning something different: from how to manufacture, how to get an idea for the company in the commercial area, and connecting with people and expanding our network,” Caldera continues.
After moving to the United States, the three business owners settled in Westfield, but they like working in Carmel because of its location on the map.
“Carmel is a central area that helps us connect with all the areas around here: Zionsville, Meridian, Fishers and others. It lets us be everywhere in 20-30 minutes. The people in Carmel appreciate how we do business with them. We’ve done several jobs around us and they’re very friendly. Since we’re a small business, we try to make connections with people,” Caldera says.
JJC Countertops handles commercial jobs as well as the typical residential ones. They’ve done work installing new counters at Tilly’s Tea Room in Fishers and created brand-new tables to match the existing stonework at the Goat Tavern in Carmel.
“We let them know that we’re not just a company you’re going to do business with; we want to be their friends and create that relationship. They’ll call and say, ‘Hey, Carlos, we’re looking to do something in our kitchen or basement bar, and you did a great job the first time.’ When they call you for the second time, you know you did well. They talk about us to others and say, ‘they’re really friendly, easygoing, and do work that you can trust,’” he says.
While they do all of the fabrication and installation themselves, the team at JJC Countertops admits that social media is not their specialty.
Romero jokes that some of their girlfriends told them to “hand over the password and the login, and don’t touch it again.” Their Instagram showcases many of their recent projects and gives potential new customers ideas for possibilities in their own homes.
From start to finish, most jobs take seven to 10 days. Countertop installation usually takes between four and six hours.
“We go to the place, take the measurements. Once the customer agrees on the material they want to use, we can get started. We work with all the suppliers here in Indy: Stone Mart, MSI, Stone Design and some others,” Caldera explains.
“We like to take our customers to different suppliers so they can see all the materials. If you look at the small samples, you’re only going to see a portion of the stone. If we take them to the supplier, they can see the whole slab. Maybe the pattern or the veining is not going to be how you imagined it. We try to share all the details with them and send them digital preview renderings so they can see what it would look like in their kitchen. We can flip it so that the exact veining they like is precisely where they want it. Those small details are something that we can only do with our custom-made countertops,” he says.
The most common jobs they do are kitchen countertops and islands, outdoor kitchens, basement bars and bathroom vanities. With summer coming, many of their customers are looking for a way to refresh the look of their space.
“Quartz is really popular because it looks like natural stone, but you’re not going to be dealing with stains, chips and scratches. It’s affordable, long-lasting and low maintenance,” Caldera adds.
The staff at JJC Countertops uses their many years of experience to help customers figure out what material is best for them. Natural stone looks elegant but requires a lot of upkeep and can be hard to maintain in a house with a busy family. Spilled liquids can leave stains, and if sealant isn’t reapplied diligently, the surface can start to get scratched from everyday wear and tear. Families with children may prefer quartz for this reason.
On the other hand, they advise those installing outdoor kitchens that quartz will quickly fade or yellow in prolonged sunlight, and dark-colored natural stone is a better fit for this type of space.
“All of the materials come in different categories. People think quartz is always cheaper, but you can get it in a category 1 through 8. It depends on quality, veining and other things like that,” he says.
Some material comes with the NSF certification label, and those are the only kinds that are approved to use in public spaces, like airports, libraries, restaurants and hospitals.
JJC Countertops is growing, and the owners plan to expand the business even further in the future, ideally partnering with other professionals and branching out with what they can offer their customers.
“We want to have a whole team, like for plumbing, cabinets and whatever else you’d need. We want it to be where you can come to us from the bottom, and we handle it all the way up to the top for the whole house,” Caldera says.
In the meantime, they’re building connections with current customers and Carmel residents. They hosted a raffle with a full kitchen remodel giveaway prize last year. They work on the weekends and accept last-minute or rush jobs in case of emergencies.
“No job is too big or too small,” he says. “Our business isn’t to sell the material, because you can get the material anywhere. We offer them solutions, the best quality that we can deliver. For us, it’s really important, and we try to please everybody.”
For more information, visit jjccountertops.com, email the team at info@jjccountertops.com or call 317-650-3233. To see more examples of their work, check out their page at instagram.com/jjccountertops.
