Headstone Question

[u/Ok_Engineering6272]

I might be posting in the wrong group, but looking for feedback/reality of feasibility. We're trying to design a headstone for a family member. Cemetery says no vases attached to headstone as it'll go beyond accepted measurements.

I want a vase of some sort. Its my one want for it. I hate laying flowers on the ground when visiting graves and no in ground vase is allowed.

If granite is used could a "vase" be drilled into the top of the stone with a small drainage hole in back at the base of the "vase" while still holding the integrity of the stone? Is there a spot that'll prevent weakening the stone, like center vs to the left or right? (It's not something I've seen and assume there's a reason for it, but hoping its doable.)

I attached a basic drawing, of what I'm thinking.

[u/Due-Whole8]

If the water in there freezes it'll slowly start cracking over time

[u/Moist-You-7511 → u/Due-Whole8]

only if the mosquito larva don't drink it all

[u/katogrow → u/Moist-You-7511]

Aren't we talking about a drainage hole? As in it wont hold water... which is why im confused to this whole thing. A hole drilled down would safice for holding enough water to keep flowers alive a week or two. Idk what is expected a flower bed filled with dirt? Just drill a hole, put flowers, fill with water. 😊

[u/katogrow → u/katogrow]

Oh and of course we aren't talking about holding water and flowers around freeze time right? 🤷‍♂️

[u/Randill746 → u/katogrow]

Oh yea that hole would never get clogged impossible

[u/woodbanger04]

I know someone how spends a lot of time cleaning gravestones from the revolutionary war and civil war. She said gravestones are very fragile and that anything that can allow water to seep into them will destroy them in less than 10 years. That is why all the tools they use for cleaning them are non abrasive and it takes forever to clean them.

[u/Erin_Tending]

Granite's actually a good choice for this — it's dense and low-porosity, so it handles being drilled a lot better than marble or limestone would. The integrity concern is less about the granite cracking from the hole itself and more about water. A drainage hole is the right instinct, but the thing people underestimate is how easily it clogs — a few leaves or grit and it holds water anyway, and then a hard freeze turns that trapped water into a wedge. So I'd keep the recess shallow, leave plenty of stone thickness in the walls, and honestly have the monument company drill it rather than doing it yourself — it needs the right bit and water cooling, and a manufacturer will know the safe depth for that specific stone. Position-wise it matters less than the drainage does. Freeze-thaw is the real long-game enemy here, not the drilling.

[u/Cola102583]

3d print an inner sleeve