Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
MOUNTAINTOP STONEWORKS
MOUNTAINTOP STONEWORKS. Considered a pioneer in a little-known industry, Mountaintop was established around 1990 and opened for business in a 1,200-square-foot location along Harrison Street. In twenty years, Robert Breitbach and Eric Christensen saw their company grow to employ ten workers and expand four times to a 15,000-square-foot location.
The company creates kitchen countertops, shower pieces, windowsills, and fireplace hearths using granite, quartz, quartzite, soapstone and marble. While a significant portion of the stone comes from South America with much from Brazil, their material is located worldwide.
Technology greatly helped the new business. When it was first opened, the partners could not find a way to have stone delivered to Dubuque. Their solution was driving themselves and occasionally their customers to Chicago to inspect stoneyards for material. This was then purchased and brought back to Dubuque in a trailer. Cutting the stone was originally done with a rail saw. One cut that once took thirty minutes with new equipment can be done in seconds. Slabs of stone in 2020 were delivered weekly giving customers many selections for their home projects.
One thing that did not change was the labor-intensive move of the finished stone from the truck into its place in the home. With state-of-the-art lasers, levels are minutely adjusted before the finished stone was laid in place.
The company maintained a selection of cleaning products for the countertops and selections of sinks to complete the home improvement project.
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Source:
Montgomery, Jeff, "Company Grows from the STONE AGE," Telegraph Herald, February 2, 2020, 1E
