The stone that I received on my job-site looks a bit lighter in color than a project that was identified with the same material. What is the reason for this?

There may be two issues that are involved here. First, natural stone will vary from load to load. This range of color is inherent in natural stone and creates a non-manufactured look. We attempt to limit through production the amount of color variation in each load of material so that we can duplicate projects or ensure that future loads resemble previously shipped material. Second, many times there are limestone or sandstone fines that adhere to the face of the stone. This is very common in the production process since the material is produced in a very dusty environment and the material tends to be saturated in water during different times throughout the production process.