BY CAROL JOHNSON
Many years ago, as I wandered through a home improvement trade show at the Blaisdell, I saw a large group gathered at a drawing to win a Japanese garden. All someone had to do to win was guess whether the stones on display were real or artificial Big Rock.
There were three sets of two identical stones; one of each pair would be natural stone. This will be easy, I thought, so I pushed through the throngs of people to take a look and submit my entry.
It all looks like natural rock, I thought. The surfaces of the stones felt exactly like rock. All the little holes and imperfections that give a stone its character were there too. What a challenge — there was no way to tell which were real and which were Big Rock. I did not win the prize, but I was certainly impressed by Big Rock.
This was in the late ’80s. I had never thought of man-made stone, and it sparked my curiosity as to why one would want it, until I saw the Big Rock display. There were water gardens, pavers, boulders and big stone walls of coral, lava and moss rock with several sample pieces to pick up and examine.
Big Rock veneer is like an “anti-gravity” rock — it weighs so little compared to real stone. This is amazing stuff. Without lifting it, there was no way I could have known it was man-made stone. I could suddenly see the potential to make radical improvements to my own dreary property walls. I decided to learn more about Big Rock.
Big Rock is Hawaii’s leading manufacturer and supplier of the world’s finest Hawaiian cast-stone products. Since its inception in 1983, the company has focused on and specialized in replicating stones indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. These include Volcanic Lava, Moss Rock, Ocean Reef Coral, Blue Rock, Cut Basalt stone and Ulupalakua stone veneer.
Each type of stone veneer has been cast from pieces of natural Island stone. It is manufactured daily on Oahu at Big Rock’s factory under the watchful eyes of foremen Kalani and Ross, who have been with the company for many years.
Big Rock sells everything you need to install its rock, eliminating running around to pick up additional supplies. If your project is something manageable like covering columns or facing a wall, just call Big Rock and the staff will calculate your needs.
I wanted to see some commercial projects that Big Rock has done over the years. I visited Ala Moana Center, where the whole mall level and front entry is Big Rock, the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki, which features Moss Rock, and Disney Aulani Resort, where all the stone on the walls was manufactured by Big Rock. I was very impressed.
Just think of the walls, columns or planters you could cover with a rich and warm rock-wall look. Whether you are a novice or an experienced mason, the installation procedure is easy and you can use veneer anywhere. I started by covering my concrete masonry unit (CMU) property walls, and after watching my transformation, the neighbors started their own Big Rock projects.
All Big Rock cast stone is manufactured at the Mapunapuna plant. Big Rock has set the standard for the cast-stone industry, not only in Hawaii but throughout the world. Big Rock is the only leading manufacturer of Hawaiian stone veneer that is truly made in the US.
contact // 834-7625 (ROCK) • Toll free (866) 344-7625
address // 1050 Kikowaena Place
web // www.bigrockhawaii.com
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