American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
Plain-spoken articles on granite, memorial planning, and headstone care, written from more than twenty years of serving families across Portage, Summit, and Stark Counties. Read at your own pace; we are here when you have questions.
Each of these started as a question asked across our counter in Ravenna. Start anywhere; none of them assume you have done this before.
The VA provides a veteran's marker free: who qualifies, the four types offered, VA Form 40-1330, and why a private cemetery still charges to set it.
What to write on a headstone: how families choose names, dates, epitaphs, and emblems, with guidance on length, readability, and words that last.
What pre-planning a headstone involves: the choices you make now, how pre-need differs from at-need, and what happens if your plans later change.
How to clean a headstone safely: the water-and-soft-brush method, what changes for marble and bronze, and why bleach and pressure washers ruin stone.
Most headstones take three to six months from order to setting. The wait is usually the cemetery's footer schedule, not the carving. When to start.
How gray, black, red, and rose granite differ, why black is the only color we recommend for laser-etched portraits, and how each holds its lettering.