Business Profile: Haas Stone and Steel
Tucked away on the edge of Westport is Haas Stone and Steel, a group of skilled craftsmen who are reviving the traditional trade of fine heritage- quality metal and stone work. This quote from their blog captures their philosophy and practice:
“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, 'See! This our fathers did for us.”
-John Ruskin
Following is an interview with Dana Taussig, Office Manager and wife of Ray Haas:
How did you come to base your family and business in Westport?
We moved to Westport in the Spring of 2017 after Dave Johnston pitched Ray on the old Stiles property across the road from DaCy for our Adirondack relocation. We wanted to live in a place where we could play in the mountains and also grow (or be near others who grow) our food. Ray had been doing more masonry for the previous few years, but had worked on slate and copper roofs when we lived in Burlington, and knew there was a market for standing seam roofing on this side of Lake Champlain. In the fall of 2017, in some coffee shop connection magic, Benji introduced Ray to David Quaglietta who has been a part owner ever since.
-What do you enjoy about doing business in this area?
Honestly, it isn’t easy. But the value of living here has been worth the extra effort so far. We can also say that while Westport may seem like it’s in the middle of nowhere, we actually find that it’s more accurate to say that it’s in the middle of everywhere in this region. We can just as easily be over the bridge in Vermont or out at a Great Camp deeper in the park.
-What services do you specialize in?
The Haas Stone & Steel team are leaders in the field on a national level for fabrication and traditional installation of standing seam roofs. Traditional installation means more craftsmanship, less caulk and glue.
Aside from installation, our shop is outfitted with CNC metal forming machinery, allowing for production of fully custom roof, flashing, or other creative metal detail elements. So if the Haas Stone & Steel crew is busy (read: they are), a high-quality metal roof can still be ordered an installed by another local contractor.
-What is your life experience that led up to opening this business?
Oh, that’s probably a bigger question than this quick profile can handle. Ray grew up building. He fell into masonry and roofing through connections in the rock climbing community in Burlington while we were living there. After I finished graduate school, Ray worked in those trades in Virginia, Oregon, and Wyoming, getting some old-fashioned Journeyman experience from different corners of the country. When we moved to the Adirondacks to settle down, Ray dove deeper into educating himself on traditional metal roofing techniques. As the company has grown, so has the passion for installing roofs that will last a lifetime. We don’t roof for the current owners, we roof for their children.