Which Materials Should You Choose for Custom Design Monuments?

Monuments are probably one of the oldest of all burial customs. For centuries, people in nearly every culture of the world have utilized monuments to mark the graves of departed loved ones. Today’s monuments are generally small rectangles positioned at the head of a grave. The aim of all custom design monuments, no matter what the shape, size or material, is to commemorate those whose graves they mark for many generations to come.

Monuments Materials: Bronze and Granite

Monuments are always made with the intent to resist the elements for many years. The two most common materials for monuments today are bronze and granite. While most monuments are made of granite, bronze has become quite a popular choice for monuments used in recent years.  Granite memorials are a staple in most traditional burials as the stone is not only durable, but offers a large range of colour and pattern choices, and can be made into custom design monuments.  Bronze is fast becoming a good runner up in the market, as it is a really beautiful yet hardwearing material as well, that also offers a wide range of choices for personalisation.

Granite Headstones:

Granite and bronze combined can make an elegant and long lasting memorial marker tribute. Monuments have been made from granite for centuries, and granite continues to be the most favoured material used to make monuments. Granite custom design monuments not just withstand the elements and hold their form, but also and more importantly retain information inscribed on it, for a lot longer than the softer-stone counterparts.

Granite has long been known as one of Earth’s most classic natural stones because of the range of patterns and colours it is available in, and accordingly, has been used to build, besides the countless numbers of tombstones and headstones, many of the world’s most elegant structures. Besides being sophisticated and beautiful, granite is one of the toughest natural materials in the world.

Bronze Headstones:

While granite custom design monuments remain the most popular today, bronze is also becoming very famous as a material for memorial markers. Bronze monuments often have a granite base, and the two materials combine to make cemetery maintenance easy.

For the most part, families have been able to preserve the elegance of memorials i n stone like bronze on granite memorials for years, by gently wiping or brushing away any dust or debris that may collect on the stone. There is usually no need for cleaning with any kind of dangerous or abrasive chemicals, or special tools for that matter, although more extreme cases where the bronze is very weathered, over the course of many, many years, may need ’refinishing’.