In an economic environment that calls for us to be more creative than ever before, we as fabricators have to look for every opportunity that we can use in order to win over customers.

One of the "CYA" mechanisms that I have found that works for me is using common examples to illustrate that natural stone has shade variation within the species of the stone.

Now, for guys that have been doing this for a while, the fact that stone has variation is no "news flash." The fact of the matter is that in most cases - when you tell your customers that their stone has variation - all they hear is "blah-blah-blah." But, if you use a well-known example of how stone looks with variation, bingo, you have just given your customer a better way of understanding how colors in stone can vary.

I was recently in our nation's capitol - Washington DC - for a visit, and took some time to look at and photograph one of the best examples (yet probably the most overlooked at the same time) of how stone can have a striking amount of variation within the same stone that is used in construction. This is none other than the Washington Monument.

A landmark that is synonymous with our country and Washington DC, the Washington Monument is 555 feet and 5 1/8 inches tall. According to the National Park Service, it's made of blocks of Maryland White Marble, with a little Massachusetts White Marble thrown in for good measure. The total weight of the memorial is 81,120 tons, with the width at the base measuring 15 feet across, while at the top it is only 18 inches wide.

What is most valuable to use as an example of shade variation with the stone used at the Washington Monument is an actual change of color at the 150 foot high mark. This is usually overlooked by most, unless the light source hits the stone just right, then it's a night and day difference.

So, we can glean so far that the Washington Monument has a defined color break at the 150 foot high mark. So what? Well, the reason that this color break is so significant is that the majority of the stone produced for the project came from a Maryland quarry in Cockeysville, but due to a work stoppage of almost 20 years, the stone colors actually changed.

Here is how this all came about: The initial cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848. Work progressed for the first 150 feet of the structure for nearly 8 years until in 1856, all work stopped. Due to lack of funding, all of the stone required for the monument could not be purchased from the quarry, so whatever was on hand and being quarried was what went down to Washington to be used on the monument.

All work ceased from 1856 until 1876 when sufficient funds had once again been acquired to complete the structure. It's at this point in history (in 1876) that the stone blocks for the monument start getting produced out of the same quarry in Maryland. The only problem that probably a few people were aware of was the fact that the stone being delivered in 1876 differed slightly from the original run of material. This is significant because people need to understand that natural stone is a "non-renewable" natural resource, which means basically, "It ain't gonna grow back, any time soon."

The Cockeysville quarry in Maryland, that was producing the blocks for the Washington Monument - from 1848 until 1856 - was cutting in the same region of the quarry for each block. Producing material in this fashion gave a very high level of consistency overall. This is evident when the color abruptly changed when work was resumed. This all changed, however, when the money ran out from the people who were funding the project and the quarry had to produce stone for other projects. There was but one choice: Ship the stone to whomever can pay for it.

In the time span of the next 20 years, the quarry in Cockeysville, Maryland kept turning out the white blocks that should have been shipped for the Washington Monument, but went for other uses.

By the time the funds had been acquired to resume work again in 1876, stone was once more shipped in to keep building the structure using a marble from Lee, Massachusetts. Four courses of this stone were used, however, it proved too costly and the remainder of the structure was faced with marble from a quarry in the Cockeysville area.

This is a piece of information that was news to me. I had always thought that the same stone was sourced from the same quarry, but in fact, multiple stone sources were used, albeit from the same local geographic location.

At the end of the day, even if the stone is not all from the same single quarry, the dramatic color change is a great tool for you to use in illustrating the subtle and not so subtle shade variations in the stones that we use everyday to make a living.

Like I always tell my students and my clients: "God made the stone. All we as fabricators do is 'embellish' it a little."

Until next month - Best Regards and Happy Fabricating!

"Illustrating Variations in Natural Stone to Your Client" is just one of the topics that are taught each month at AZ School of Rock.

Find out more by logging on to their web site: www.azschoolofrock.com . For more information about class schedules, contact Kevin at 480-309-9422.

According to the National Park Service, the Washington Monument is built of blocks of Maryland White Marble, with some Massachusetts White Marble thrown in for good measure, topping out at 555 feet, 5.5 inches.

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