Custom Rock International
Broadening the Decorative
Concrete Market
by Bruce Hackett

When decorative concrete is mentioned, typically we’re referring to the booming market in flat concrete — floors, driveways, pool decks, even countertops. However, there are additional, more specialized niches in the decorative concrete arena: simulated rock formations, typically found in zoos, theme parks and resorts; and textured and colored concrete walls, bridges, tunnel portals and other vertical surfaces, found in dozens of applications.

Custom Rock International, a 31-year-old company based in St. Paul, Minnesota, is involved in all these kinds of applications and more. From humble beginnings in 1971 as a purveyor of colored and imprinted concrete designed to simulate stone or brick, Custom Rock has done projects throughout the US as well as the Carribean Islands, Saudi Arabia, and Asia. The company is now recognized as an industry leader in such areas as the manufacture of quality, high-definition rockwork castings.

In the late 1970s, Custom Rock was given the opportunity to create an artificial rockwork project at the then-new Minnesota Zoo, recalls Paul Mooty, President of Custom Rock. “We were already in the business of creating simulated rock in flatwork, so this venture into creating simulated rock was a natural progression for us.” By the late 1980s, Custom Rock was asked to produce a stone texture mold for a poured-in-place concrete wall. “Given the company’s molding talents and expertise, this was, again, a logical progression for our business,” Mooty said. That project led to the development of a number of unique, patented methods of creating high-quality authentic stone textures on vertical surfaces in a seamless and non-repetitive fashion, he said.

Durable Form Liners
A particularly successful part of Custom Rock’s business is the production and marketing of a broad line of form liners, including solid urethane DuraForm reusable liners. More than 30 different patterns, from weathered limestone and rustic barn wood to random cut stone and rustic ashlar, are available. In addition, in keeping with the company name, Custom Rock accepts the challenge to provide custom patterns as well.

“When you combine our quality products with many years of experience in the custom molding of rock textures as well as other types of form liners including wood and brick, every job becomes a new experience that we as a company can grow and learn from,” said Jim Bohrer, Custom Rock’s Director of Wall Systems.

A recent successful project involved the production of wood grain form liners for the rebuilding of the damaged portion of The Pentagon in Washington D.C. The Department of Defense imposed very tight and challenging deadlines in order for the project to be completed by the one-year anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Although Custom Rock usually requires 3-6 weeks to create a custom form liner, the company worked extensively to manufacture 9,800 square feet of custom form liner in four weeks.

“Our strengths in custom molding and the ability to produce samples quickly make projects like the Pentagon stay on schedule with the highest quality results,” said Bohrer.

Custom Rock has an impressive list of projects on which form liners were successfully used to duplicate natural stone structures: retaining walls and abutments in many park area throughout country; numerous wall projects at golf and country clubs; the killer whale exhibit at Sea World in California; a dam project in New Jersey; tunnel portals in Duluth, Minnesota; and many bridges across the United States.

In addition to the high quality results made possible through the use of Custom Rock form liners, they are cost effective for contractors as well, according to Bohrer. “Contractors recognize the cost savings in our form liners,” he noted. “Increasing labor costs, coupled with the costs associated with real stone, have increased the cost effectiveness of form liners, especially when the contractor chooses a standard pattern or uses a DuraForm highly reusable liner. The price per square foot becomes very economical because of the liner’s multiple use.”