Compare Costs and Quality – Download

Am I buying from a Mason who manufactures or a third party?

  • We are Monumental Masons, we know our trade.
  • We are not a Funeral Director or a company pretending to be a monumental mason who sell Memorials or services bought in from an outside Company
  • We do not pay commission to our staff or other people/companies as we believe advice should not be motivated by commission.
  • See memorials and samples of materials in our showroom, not just brochures.
  • Images on computer screens completely distort the colourings and characteristics of materials.

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Should all natural materials used for memorials be the same price?

  • No materials come from all around the world and the price depends on availability, exchange rates, shipping costs and the quality within that material.

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Is a memorial’s material the same quality as another memorial’s material of the same type of material?

  • No, raw material is sold in different grades, and therefore some raw materials are not suitable for memorial use, as it can have weaknesses, fault lines, the pores of material being too open and such.
  • Are all pieces of the memorial from the same raw material block, for if not they will not match to the best possible effect.
  • Is the material quarried correctly. It is cheaper to cut raw material in a way that does not give the correct grain across the material which can effect weathering and the look of the material.

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Is one polished finish the same as the next?

  • No polishing should be a 4 to 5 stage process by machine and/or hand. If dyes or lacquers are used this will create a false finish this looks accept able at first, but, which will not stand the test of time.

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Is all lettering the same?

No lettering quality is based on

  • Size, Depth and lettering style.
  • The correct training and experience.
  • For instance a Letter Carver should spend five years learning the craft.
  • Time spent to set the inscription and create the overall appearance of the memorial.
  • The use of correct materials and stages for the lettering coatings being:
  • The use of gold leaf not gold paint, the carat of the gold, the thickness of the gold and the correct base coat and adhesion coat.
  • For enamelled letters the quality of the enamel and the number of coats used.

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Why have I got a cheaper price from another company for a 2’6” overall memorial?

  • Because of any of the above.
  • And/or it is a different size, you should check the height, width and depth of each piece of a memorial. For instance on our standard 2’3” high headstone we use a 4 “base giving 2’7” overall height not a 2’6” overall height. The memorial looks more substantial and if a flower hole is required, the flowers stay in better and have more water.

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Why should I not go for a cheaper cost to clean my marble memorial by acid rather than by machine/or hand?

  • Initially it will look similar to the original colour of the material but the acid will have been absorbed by the open pores into the material and will eat away at the material over time and cause an orange type blooming effect.
  • Renovation by machine and hand will normally give an as new appearance and close the pores of the material which have opened up over time therefore being a restoration as well.
2020-07-14T18:52:09+01:00