Going Natural

By K. Schipper

LEHI, Utah – When Kurt Johnson started Interlock Paving of Utah in this Salt Lake City suburb more than 10 years ago, he began with basic concrete pavers and the skills to install them.

And, as the market changed since then, so has the business.

On the one hand, Interlock is firmly welded to its main strengths: A commitment to serving each customer as fully and fairly as possible, while emphasizing sand-set installations that hold up well under northern Utah’s freeze-thaw cycles.

At the same time, Johnson recognized the need to go well beyond concrete pavers. Over the years, the company added a number of natural-stone products, and today has a natural stone and special products division that’s taking Interlock into projects requiring custom materials and fabrication.

Equally successful is the company’s swimming-pool division, which grew out of Johnson’s observation that many pool installers were happy just installing, and not finishing out the job.
Whether it’s a few hundred square feet of paving or a job, involving thousands of square feet of custom stone, Interlock’s goal remains installing a job that will stand the test to time.

Evolving Success
Johnson may have been focusing on the basics when he started Interlock Paving of Utah, but he and the firm have been expanding and growing ever since, according to Dan Sjoblom, Interlock’s general manager.

Sjoblom says Johnson was really drawn to start the business for two reasons. He has family in the concrete manufacturing business; and, in his younger years he traveled extensively in Europe, falling in love with European-style paving.

Although starting with installing mainly concrete pavers, Interlock steadily evolved into offering a number of paving and related products to meet market demand. A good case in point is the addition of a swimming pool division – Sjoblom’s area of expertise – in early 2005.

“The segmented-stone portion of the business grew and evolved first,” says Sjoblom. “The decision to branch out into swimming pools had to do with the fact that, as we did segmented paving stone decks around swimming pools and stone coping around the edges of swimming pools for swimming-pool contractors, we discovered the need for a company that would finish not only the structure of the pool itself, but the beautification of the area around it.”

There were, he adds, too many pool contractors who didn’t give the proper attention to the work around the pool. Today, one of Interlock’s 10 installation crews is dedicated strictly to custom swimming-pool installations.

And, while the greater Salt Lake City area is probably associated in many people’s minds with its nearby world-class ski resorts and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the swimming pool market is strong and growing, he says, with a season that typically runs from April to October.

David Hayes, manager of Interlock’s natural-stone and special-projects division, says the emphasis on swimming pools has also helped drive what he does.

“Kurt has always done natural stonework, but our entrance into the swimming-pool business has brought customers who want a little more refined product than concrete pavers,” he says. “And, with my knowledge of natural stone, we’ve expanded the company’s ability to do more things using natural stone from local, domestic and imported materials.”

Interestingly, Johnson recruited neither Sjoblom nor Hayes for their particular areas of expertise. However, Sjoblom says the company president has a good eye for people and was quick to seize the opportunities the swimming pools and natural stone offer.

“He’s always keeping his eyes open for new business, in addition to growing our existing business,” the general manager says. “He’s always keeping his eyes open for other related businesses that make sense to supplement what we’re already doing. We’re definitely on the grow.”

Firing on All Phases
While many business owners recognize it’s necessary to grow or die, handling growth the wrong way can be equally fatal. It’s there that Johnson has opted to stick most closely to the basics of his business, Sjoblom says.

“Kurt has a saying that’s one of the first things he shares with everyone who comes to work here,” says the general manager. “He says, ‘Give a customer what they want or a little more, when they want it or a little before.’ We take that very seriously.”

To do that, Interlock has a system that makes sure – with the first phone call or showroom visit – each customer gets an internal project coordinator. That person then works with the customer through the initial job description, the choosing of design and materials, the drafting of the contract, and then all construction until the work is completed.

“We like to think that what we’re best at is being a customer-focused organization that really listens to people and gives them what they want,” says Sjoblom.

“The key to our success in growing this business is making sure every customer is taken care of the same way. The project coordinators aren’t just selling a job and walking away.”

Sjoblom adds that most people have had a bad experience with a contractor at one time or another. He believes much of it comes because a contractor can’t offer an entire package of services, or the person doing part of the job is a good craftsman but can’t communicate, or is skilled in fabrication, but not installation.

“To live up to that saying, we feel we have to be firing on all phases – in the communications realm and the quality realm,” he says. “And, because this is what we’re best at, we could go into a different type of business and still survive because we’d still focus on our customers in the same way.”

Interlock is also proud of its customer mix, and the services it offers them. Currently, Sjoblom estimates that about half of the company’s work comes from homeowners, and the remaining half from contractors – with most of them doing new home projects.

“More and more, we’re also finding ourselves doing work for municipalities and larger contractors working on commercial projects,” he says. “In those cases we’re finding more and more calls for natural stone products, although that’s starting to bleed over into residential projects. Still, manufactured stone is really the mainstay with our residential projects.”

A good example of a larger municipal project the company completed this past fall is the plaza for the Main Library of the Salt Lake City Public Library system. Sjoblom explains that it incorporated some 80,000 ft² of imported Chinese granite.

“It’s a great project, and all sand-set paving,” he says.

Where residential projects do go with natural stone, there’s a distinct willingness to invest a little more in outdoor hard surfaces, the general manager says.

Among recent projects that fall into that category are a residential garden involving different levels that incorporates granite, limestone, sandstone, slate and bluestone into a single job, and another where Hayes is creating a rose medallion for a paver patio.

“We found a variety of natural-stone colors and stone types that could be used in creating this medallion, which is going to be 5’ in diameter,” says Hayes. “We’ll use some Juperana Bordeaux granite for the rosebud and then four or five different colors of green granite that will form the leaves and stems. The background will be a buff-colored Valderstone limestone from Wisconsin.”

Hayes believes this custom portion of Interlock is in its infancy, although Sjoblom is quick to add that the company is also willing to combine natural and manmade products to get the customer a high-end look while still keeping budget concerns in mind.

A Little Time, a Little Effort
Making sure the customer gets the best project possible happens in one of two ways at Interlock, but there’s a strong emphasis on design.

Sjoblom says the company has on-staff people skilled in what he calls, “light landscape design,” who can help a homeowner or contractor lay out a yard. For jobs involving more involved work – such as plant specification – the company out-sources the design work to landscape architects.

“On the flip side of that, we commonly find ourselves taking a design from a landscape architect and adding even more detail to the hardscape area,” he explains. “If we do the design, it tends to be very detailed on the hardscape area. If we take a landscape architect’s design, we usually receive designs that are quite heavy on the landscape side and lighter on the details of the hardscape, and we help the customer add to that before starting the project.”

Every job tends to be just a little different, Sjoblom adds, but he says it’s important to Interlock to get the right design in hand before starting a project.

Having the customer be comfortable with the materials to be used is also critical, he adds. That’s where the company’s showroom and shop play a role.

“We encourage people to come in and see our operation and see the showroom and our yard and get the chance to see the many different products we’re working with and get a feel for who we are,” Sjoblom says.

Customers for thee segmented manufactured paving stones may be able to choose a color and a product from sample books and photos. Sjoblom says that a physical visit is especially important with customers buying natural stone because of the unlimited number of shapes and colors and sizes and finishes. Even then, it sometimes requires going beyond that.

“We do whatever it takes to give people a good feel for what they’re looking at, and that can include a good flow of samples and photographs,” he says. “Sometimes it takes a little more time and a little more effort on the sales side of things to get a natural-stone project designed and sourced to get the customer feeling comfortable before the install starts.”

While customer comfort is certainly a big concern, creating an end product that will last is also a primary focus of Interlock. Kurt Johnson’s admiration for European-style paving aside, Sjoblom says in many cases, it’s more appropriate – given the local climate – than mortar-set techniques.

“That’s what this business as really built on,” says the general manager. “We’re setting segment stones – either natural or manmade – in a sand bed with sand joints. We’re able to create beautiful surfaces without creating the maintenance that we find goes with projects set in mortar.”

He adds that in Europe, the combination of a sand bed and sand joints has kept pavements in place for centuries by allowing them enough room for movement without being noticeable.

There’s no doubt in Sjoblom’s mind that Johnson will continue to grow Interlock Paving of Utah. If nothing else, Sjoblom says company officials know the best way to get good people and keep them interested in what they’re doing is to continue to improve and grow as a company.

It’s all part of Johnson’s philosophy, the general manager says.

“He’s always trying to keep his eyes open for new businesses to be in, in addition to growing the existing business,” says Sjoblom. “We’ve added the natural stone, we’ve added the swimming pools and we’ll continue to grow those divisions, while at the same time continuing to grow the mainstay of the company, which is still straightforward segmented pavement.”

The other part of that, though, is Johnson’s commitment to staying focused on giving people what they want, whether it’s a huge commercial project, or someone’s patio.

“In both cases, our goal is to install a good, sound paving that’s going to stand the test of time,” Sjoblom concludes. “We try to stay focused on giving people what they want and using an install technique that’s proper for the material and the climate we’re operating in.”