Harrisville Memorials FAQs

Definitely! Making decisions about your monument over the phone may take a little more time, but is not impossible.   Ideally, the best way to choose a monument is by coming to our office to see our display and discuss options with one of our monument specialists.  We also offer home appointments for those who find it difficult to visit our office.  So please call us and we can figure out the best plan of action.

At Harrisville Memorials, we sincerely want you to make an informed decision. We spend time with each family explaining the product and going over the options. We are dedicated to designing a monument to fit your personal taste and budget. But no matter where you go, the dealer should be knowledgeable, professional and willing to take the time to listen to your needs. Anyone who calls you just a few days after the funeral or urges you to make a hasty decision does not have your best interests in mind. We believe that only you know when the time is right. The other thing to keep in mind is that you should purchase from a full-service memorial dealer, someone who only deals with monuments. You might think that a cemetery or funeral director would be a good starting point, however, they are usually handling monuments as a secondary source of income and cannot offer you the same advantages that a full-service memorial dealer can. Monument design, manufacture and installation are specialized services that require knowledge and expertise. Let Harrisville Memorials help you with what we do best – memorializing your loved one by telling their story in stone.

The price of a cemetery memorial depends largely on the quality of material used and where it is quarried from. There are many different grades, colors and sizes of granite available. In addition to that, the craftsmanship or design that went into creating the memorial is a factor. A memorial can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. If you have a budget you need to stay within, let us know and we will work with you to create just the right memorial at an affordable price for you. There are many suggestions we can make to lessen the financial responsibility. Typically, when you feel you are ready to order, we ask for half the amount due and the remainder on completion.

When you have met with one of our team of professionals and reviewed options and costs, you will have a total amount due. This includes installation of the memorial you have chosen. Also discussed will be the need for a concrete foundation at the cemetery. This is important, as a foundation must support the weight of the memorial and withstand the extremes of weather and temperature. Some cemeteries install the foundations needed and set their own prices for this work.  We do not add any fee on top of the foundation rate set by the cemetery.  We will order the concrete foundation for you.  For cemeteries that do not install the concrete foundations, this is a service that Harrisville Memorials provides.  Our concrete foundations are installed with care and precision to ensure that your monument will be stable for years to come.

No, they definitely are not! A memorial retailer who attempts to convince you that all granite is of equal quality or that it all comes from the same place obviously knows nothing about geology or the granite industry.  Our granite is covered by a warranty from the Barre Granite Association, which warrants that the granite used in your memorial has been manufactured to the highest quality standards.  Each piece of your memorial will be marked with the association’s seal.  Only a small percentage of quarried granite meets the association’s standards.

The same size and color of memorial does not mean the same quality. Granite and other stone materials come out of the earth in varying quality grades. These grades are determined by the stone’s overall appearance, color, pattern consistency, mineral content, and density. Because we have direct buying relationships with our suppliers, we at Harrisville Memorials know who quarried the stone and we know its quality. Lastly, whether your monument is carved directly by the manufacturer in Vermont, or carved locally, you can rest assured that we will have only the most skilled craftsmen with many years of experience creating your monument.

The timeline depends upon the color and cut of the granite you select, as well as your timely approval of the drawing or blueprint of your memorial. Cemetery work schedules, weather and ground conditions may also be a deciding factor for completion.

Yes, in 2 to 3 weeks after you place an order for your monument, we will call you to come in and review a drawing of it. This serves as a blueprint for your individual memorial – nothing will be engraved on the granite itself until you approve this drawing. This is our checks and balances system for ensuring your monument will be just as you imagined.

 In most cases final dates are added at the cemetery without moving the monument. See cemetery lettering for more information.

Many people mistakenly believe that the process of cremation is an end in itself, but it is not. Cremation is preparation for memorialization just as is traditional burial. In fact, the options for the final disposition of cremated remains and the subsequent memorials used to honor them are many and varied. You can purchase a cemetery lot and have their ashes interred in the ground or in a memorial.  Please see some options at Cremation Memorials.