1. What should I consider when selecting a monument company?

Choose a company where you feel comfortable with the sales staff and confident they can do what they say. The company should have a complete display (don’t buy from pictures) so you can see what you are selecting. Choose a “real” monument company, one that has a full shop that engraves their own memorials, has its own art department and sets their own memorials.

2. How long should I wait before purchasing a monument?

Since most of the time the memorial does not sit directly on the grave, but in an area set aside for the memorial, you can select your memorial anytime. You can even select your memorial before there is a burial. The most important time is when you are ready to make the decision.

3. How long will it take to produce the monument once I place the order?

There are many factors involved in placing a memorial. Many granites are imported and custom memorials take extra time. All things considered, you can expect approximately 90 – 120 days on standard memorials. Custom and imported memorials can take 4 to 5 months.

4. What determines the cost of a memorial?

Size - Color - Shape - Type of Granite – Amount of Polish – Complexity of Design – Hand or Laser Etching all are important factors in the cost of your memorial.

5. What are the differences in the types of granite?

The different colors of granite you see in cemeteries represent quarries from all over the world. Many of these quarries offer several different grades of granite from the same quarry and the price can vary 10 to 30%. You can receive memorials, if you are not careful, which are streaked or have blemishes which should not be there.

6. Is the engraving extra?

Dodds Monuments includes the front engraving of the family name, individual names and dates, as well as any of our computer designs, in the cost of the memorial. The price of personalized designs, including hand and laser etchings, will vary depending on the amount and complexity of the design.

7. Are future final dates included in the price?

Legally, a monument company can only charge for a final date if they place money in a trust fund to cover the future cost. Dodds is one of a very few memorial companies in the United States which has it’s own trust fund, set up at 5/3 Bank in Dayton. On all of our “Dodds Everlasting Memorials”, all final dates plus vandalism and cracking are covered in perpetuity.

8. Where are the monuments made?

The size, shape and polishing of the memorial is completed at the individual quarries. Dodds is one of the few memorial companies which continue to have a full engraving facility. Computer design, hand diamond etching, sandblasting, and special shaped carvings are all done at our historic home office and engraving plant in downtown Xenia.

9. Do the monuments come with a warranty?