Classic Stone Design, Plantsville, Conn.

That’s the reality Joe Barbuito faced when he and partner Glenn Charamut opened the doors of Classic Stone Design LLC in August 2008. Now, almost two-and-a-half years later, they’re thriving.

In fact, the two men wonder how they’re going to manage when the economy does pick up and they get seriously busy.

Click to enlarge While that wouldn’t be a problem for many shops, Barbuito is concerned about getting too big. Between them, the partners have almost half a century of stone fabrication and installation experience, and an important ingredient in their success is their reputation for quality.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Joe Barbuito has come a long way in an industry that he didn’t even consciously aim to enter back in 1982. At the time, he was driving a truck for a building-supply company.

“They were closing down that branch,” he explains. “I was friends with the branch manager and he said, ‘I’ve already spoken to my brother. There’s a job waiting for you in Orange, Conn.; go and see him.’”

That’s where he learned the craft of stone fabrication, at a time – he’s quick to note – shops didn’t have diamond polishing pads, let alone computer-numeric-controlled (CNC) equipment.

Nine years later, he and a former partner opened their own shop in the New Haven, Conn., area. And, that’s where Barbuito made the acquaintance of Glenn Charamut.

Barbuito says a friend of his worked for the fledgling business in the early 1990s, eventually becoming an install subcontractor. When the friend launched his install business, he brought Charamut – who had some previous fabrication experience – in to work with him.

Not surprisingly, Charamut handles Classic Stone’s templating and installations. His skills at those tasks, Barbuito says, is one of the reasons he was anxious to partner with Charamut in the new business.

“For one thing, he’s pretty creative,” says Barbuito. “He and his helper can handle pieces of stone that I know other shops would send out four guys to do the same job. But, number one, he’s very meticulous, which is why I was eager to team up with him.”

Barbuito says he left his previous operation, in part because he wasn’t particularly happy with the direction the business had taken.

“For me, it was just getting to be too much,” he says. “It had gotten a lot bigger than I wanted it to be. We were up to 17 employees, and I just wanted to downsize a little bit.”