Slants

Slants have earned their name because they typically have a slanted face (front).

They are crafted from granite and are traditionally lower to the ground than dies and can be set directly on the cemetery footer at ground level or atop a base. As with dies, traditional slants customarily have a serpentine, oval or straight top. Slants also typically have a rock front nose, but western style slants do have a full face and no front nosing.

The face of a slant is traditionally polished (smooth, mirror-like finish) and the sides and front nose are usually rock pitch (natural rocky appearance). The tops and back of slants can be polished, rock pitch, or sawn (smooth, dull finish). However, as with dies, slants have a virtual cornucopia of monument designs and finish options, which will enable you to personalize your memorial monuments, grave headstones, granite monuments, and gravestone markers.

Many of the different slant options are showcased in our monument design catalogue in the menu to the right. Here you will find design options for individual slants and companion slants. Please note that many cemeteries have sections that either do not allow or only allow slants and place other restrictions with respect to size and engravings. It is important to contact Gaydos Monument Company so we can confirm these details for you prior to purchasing.

View Our Selection of Slants

Flat Granite Markers

Grave markers have earned their name because of their traditional function of marking a gravesite. Flat-grass markers (also called flats or flush markers) are almost always rectangular and flush with the ground so that cemetery mowers can ride freely over them without damaging them.

Grave markers are traditionally made from granite but are also available in bronze or a combination of bronze with a granite surround. Although marker style options are limited, they are a very dignified and respectable way to mark a family member's or loved one's grave and they are available in many different granite colors and have virtually unlimited engraving options. Markers for individuals are usually 2 to 2 ½ ft. long and Companion Markers are usually 3 to 6 ft. long.

View Our Selection of Flat Granite Markers

Dies & Bases

Dies and bases are commonly referred to as uprights or upright gravestone markers.

A die is traditionally crafted from granite and usually has a face (front) that is perpendicular to the ground and is generally set atop a base unit that raises it off the ground. Traditional dies are typically square in shape and have a serpentine, oval, straight or roof top and are used for gravestone markers or memorial monuments.

Dies can be all polished (smooth mirror-like finish showcasing the granite color), all steeled (smooth textured finish), and they can also have rock pitch sides and top (natural rocky appearance).

Traditional bases typically have a polish flat top and rock sides which are not damaged by cemetery mowers and trimmers and will keep your monument design beautiful. However, the possibilities are endless with dies when it comes to specialty shapes, designs, and finishes, which will enable you to give your family memorial monument a very personal touch. Many of the different options are showcased in our Monument Design Catalogue in the menu to the right. Here you will find designs for individual dies and companion dies.

Please note that many cemeteries have sections that either do not allow, or only allow dies and bases, and often restrict aspects of size and have other engraving requirements and restrictions for your memorial monument. It is important that you contact Gaydos Monument Company so we can confirm these details for you, prior to purchase.

View our Selection of Dies and Bases

Sculpture

Gaydos Monument Company offers exquisite granite sculptures and carvings that can accompany or be recessed or otherwise incorporated with your monument design for your memorial monuments.

Gaydos Monument Company also takes pride in enhancing our sandblast designs with deep-shape roses and other flowers and shallow-shaping other natural features within a design, such as leaves, flowers, etc.

 Shaping is the hand process (using compressed air and sandblast abrasives) of giving sandblast design features a dimensional look so they appear more natural and life-like on the memorial monuments. A longer, deeper shaping process will eventually give the memorial design a beautiful carved or sculpted look. A shallow shaping process gives your sandblast design additional depth to enhance the beauty of your memorial design on your monument.

Gaydos Monument Company also has the capability to provide life-size sculptures of religious figures, people, animals, etc. in granite or marble for various applications in cemeteries, public, and private venues.

View our Selection of Sculpture Monuments

Granite Cemetery Memorials

Natural Stone Countertops

Gaydos Monument offers a wide range of natural stone countertops for your home and business. We're able to help your project from start to finish.

• Granite
• Marble
• Onyx

Granite Etchings

Granite Etchings are highly detailed photos or scenes that are etched in the polish surface of granite and are often used in monument designs.

One photo or several photos may be combined to create a personalized etching. Granite etchings are typically done on sheer black granite because it provides the best canvas for showcasing the etching.

Gaydos Monument Company uses only the finest black granite in the world for grave headstones, granite monuments, gravestone markers, and memorial monuments. By selecting the desired style from the drop down list you can view many of the different laser etching images available as well as some of our renowned hand etching work.

View All Granite Etching Options

Laser Etching

Gaydos Monument can etch a treasured photo on to a memorial by using our in-house laser etching machine.  

This state-of-the-art computerized machine can replicate any photo precisely onto a granite monument up to four feet long.* The image is transferred to a robotic arm with a laser attached to it that goes back and forth across the face of the stone creating a detailed etching. * (Note that the quality of the photo determines the quality of the etching.)  

View Our Laser Etchings

See a Video of our Laser Etching Machine Below

Hand Etching

Granite hand etchings are done by an artist who uses a diamond-tipped electro-stylus and literally draws on the granite.

This technique allows more flexibility and artistic interpretation of one or several photographs to create a custom collage as a tribute to your loved one. Gaydos Monument Company employs one of the regions most talented hand etching artists who creates beautiful monument designs onto granite gravestone markers, memorial monuments, etc. Because of the time and labor involved, this hand-etching process is at a higher price point than the laser etching.

View Our Hand Etching Options

Sandblast Design

Within our Sandblast Design Catalogue, you will find many sample images of monument designs, symbols, etc. that can be engraved on a variety of memorial styles and shapes (such as granite monuments, bronze monuments, grave headstones, gravestone markers, and other memorial monuments).

 Sandblast Designs are also called engraved designs. Sandblasting involves the use of compressed air to force sand or some other abrasive at the granite at a high rate of speed.

This process allows us to engrave letters and designs in our granite memorials from monument design that you would like on your memorials.

Please choose a monument type and monument design style from the drop-down lists that interest you. You will be able to enlarge the thumbnail images of the sandblast designs and print them if you so desire. For more information and pricing of a particular monument design style, please contact us with the item code.

View Our Sandblast Designs and Font Guide

Porcelain Photos

Accessories add a personal touch to your monument.

Gaydos Monument Company offers a number of memorial accessories, so that you can further personalize and enhance the beauty of your memorial with your own monument design

Porcelain Photos are an additional product which can be attached or inserted into your granite monument. 

Monument Portraits are photos and porcelains that can be reproduced in GENUINE porcelain for an everlasting tribute to your loved one. You may also use your own religious pictures or portraits, and we can turn them into fine colored memorials.  Different shapes, gold fillet borders, and raised edges are available.

Whether you wish to memorialize one or two people, or choose a heart shape, or wish to colorize an older photo, Gaydos Monument Company is here to assist in any way we can. Just ask, and we'll let you know the possibilities available to create a lasting memorial.

Photo Etching Inserts

Gaydos Monument can etch a treasured photo on to a memorial by using our in-house laser etching machine. 

This state-of-the-art computerized machine can replicate any photo precisely onto a granite monument up to four feet long.* The image is transferred to a robotic arm with a laser attached to it that goes back and forth across the face of the stone creating a detailed etching. By providing this service rather that outsourcing the laser etchings like most granite companies, we are able to save on production time and money, therefore we are able to pass on the savings to our clients. * (Note that the quality of the photo determines the quality of the etching.) 

-Editing, cropping or enlargements of photos and touch-ups can be provided by our art department.

Photos of loved ones can also be laser etched into rectangular, heart-shaped, or oval black granite panels and inserted into any color memorial. The inserts come in a number of sizes and are bonded into recessed panel on your memorial so they cannot be removed.

Bronze & Pewter Accessories

Gaydos offers numerous  bronze and pewter accessories  to adorn your memorial and monument design, such as roses, crosses, veteran emblems, etc...

Bronze and pewter accessories can be installed directly into your granite memorial or base and come in various sizes.

Vases & Plinths

Gaydos Monument Company has a number of options for you, should you wish to add a vase or vases to your memorial monument to hold flowers.

We can provide you with beautiful polished, turned (round) vases, matching the granite color of your memorial that can be installed directly onto the base. Gaydos Monument Company also designs square tapered granite vases with numerous finish options (rock, sawn, polish, etc.) and other custom shapes and styles.

We also offer pewter and bronze vases and other metal composite vases that can be attached to a memorial base or plinth. Many of these style vases are invertible -- they can be purchased with an in-ground canister allowing you to turn them upside down for protection.

Granite Corner Posts

Granite corner posts are granite blocks installed at the corners of grave, usually just at the head and sometimes at all four corners of a grave.

Granite corner posts can be ordered to match any granite color and may also be engraved with an initial.

CNC Machining

•  Refurbish Damaged Memorials
•  Polishing
•  Sculpting
•  Custom Cutting