Stone Mechanical, Inc. began in the late 1970’s when the Stone family made the move from California to Colorado for hunting and fishing. After working for other companies in town, Bill Stone started his own business, Stone Mechanical, in 1978. His son, Garrick, has fond memories of Grand Junction throughout their early years of the business. Their second location stood where Enstroms Candies stands today. Several small businesses were on this block as well (including Enstroms in a smaller building.) Garrick remembers watching toffee being made while at his dad’s fabrication shop.
Today, Bill and Garrick run Stone Mechanical, Inc. together at their 9th Street location. With 12 employees, several concurrent projects, and diversification in the products they provide, Stone Mechanical continues to grow and evolve to keep up with current technology and market demands.
Stone Mechanical was first established as an HVAC company. They specialize in high-end residential HVAC systems for luxury homes in Aspen. Stone Mechanical is often brought onto projects early to work in sync with the architecture and design of a home. Though they are behind the scenes in homes, HVAC systems should never be overlooked. Concepts like noise and air placement can really affect the comfort of a home. “It is amazing what people put into their homes,” says Garrick of the many homes for which they have designed and built systems for.
Beyond the HVAC business, the team has many years of design and fabrication experience which allows them to branch into custom projects. One such project was the High Roller Ferris Wheel in Las Vegas. Brought into the project by Leitner Poma, Stone Mechanical helped design parts for the 28 cabins on the massive wheel. Each cabin can hold up to forty people and is fully air-conditioned. Stone Mechanical has also created and patented specialty parts for go-karts.
City Metalsmith, a division of Stone Mechanical, provides custom design and fabrication for the public and other local businesses. This involves functional products such as roof jacks, as well as artistic projects, such as copper chimney caps and designer range hoods. ”The more diverse we are, the better it is,” says Garrick. “They are true craftsmen of their trade,” says Garrick of his team, “They have been doing this most of their lives.”
Garrick saw a need for IT help as XP was being phased out by Microsoft. “It was time for us to step up and update all of the machines,” he says. Though Garrick is tech-savvy himself, he brought on Networks Unlimited to help with networking in the office. Stone Mechanical also produces lots of CAD files for their projects- which take hours to create. Automatic backups give them peace of mind. If a disaster happens, then Networks Unlimited can help to retrieve lost files from backups. “So far everything has been great,” says Garrick about his experience with Networks Unlimited.