Over our company’s long history, families have approached Travis Monument Group’s artisans with a wide range of reasons for requesting on-site engraving and lettering services. When we are challenged with on-site lettering projects, we strive to provide elegant, artistic solutions that meet your family’s needs while enhancing the original monument.
Why Families May Need On-Site Engraving Services
For many families, after the second companion passes on, a new name and date may need to be added to a headstone originally intended for two people, or a date may need to be completed on a headstone for one individual. In other cases, the family needs to incorporate a third name onto a monument that was originally intended for just two.
A family may also want to add additional embellishments or design elements to an existing memorial design. Whatever your circumstance, our proficient artisans can accomplish your goals with the proprietary solutions we have developed for on-site engraving and lettering.
Our experienced artisans will create a plan to update the existing headstone that will save you money and ensure that the memorial you already own properly pays tribute to the lives it was intended to honor. To bring you the best service possible, we can also deep clean the headstone while we are at the cemetery making the addition, combining services for your convenience.
Feel free to browse through through samples of our work for inspiration.
The Process
To begin, our mobile engraving and lettering team visits the site to assess the state of the existing stone to ensure it is not first in need of any repair or restoration.
Next, our artisans carefully take wax rubbings of the existing monument in the field. We then decide which methods will match the letters most exactly; traditional hand drawing or AutoCAD drafting computer technology. Each memorial is carefully scrutinized, keeping the matching of the font and preserving the overall elegance of the monument in mind.
In a situation where the monument was created before the advent of computers, hand drafting sometimes matches the original carving style better. If handwork is needed, our experienced artisans refine the lines of the rubbing with skillful drawing, an ability that is becoming rarer by the day.
If we determine that the rubbings and sketched details can be worked with better digitally, we create a rendering that way. We will then create a representation of the finished headstone for your approval using whichever method is deemed best to produce the final design.
After that, we produce a template measuring the depth, width, and even the exact size of each serif in each letter. Then we consider whether conventional sandblasting or hand carving will best serve to replicate the original lettering.
Finally, the mobile engraving and lettering team again travels to the site. Using their years of experience and artistic sensibilities, they hand-engrave the name on the existing stone.
This careful set of steps, developed over many years, allows us to seamlessly match the memorial’s design, era, and specific font to bring a sense of closure to families. Our experts will take the time to work with you every step of the way to create or update a design to fittingly honor your loved one. Contact us below for more information.
I work as an installer during busy times. When I first started, I was taught to always wash every headstone we install – even if it looks clean. It’s the first time the family will see their monument and it’s got to be 100%. This is a great company, every worker cares.
– Jeff Daniels
Stonemason and Installation
