The Whittier Fault Shear
The Whittier Fault cuts right through the hills. The ground doesn't just shake here; it slides sideways.
Standard concrete foundations are rigid. They can't move with the dirt. The earth pulls, and the concrete snaps. We see foundations split diagonally. The headstone slides off level.
If you are searching for tombstone repair and restoration, patching the concrete fails. The fault will break it again. We dig out the broken concrete. We install a flexible, locked-gravel foundation. This allows the ground to slide beneath the monument without snapping the base.
Slope Washout
Rose Hills is built on steep slopes. Gravity works against the monuments. Heavy rain rushes down the hill. It creates channels in the soil.
It digs out the dirt under the downhill side of the grave. The foundation loses its support. It ends up bridging a hole.
Packing dirt back under the stone fails. The next rain just washes it away again. We stabilize the slope. We install drainage barriers to divert the water. We pack the base with heavy angular rock that water cannot move.
Oil Field "Sticky" Film
Whittier sits next to the Santa Fe Springs oil fields. The air carries oily residue. It settles on the headstones.
The sun cooks this residue into a sticky film. It traps dust and pollen. It creates a black, tar-like layer on the stone. Water beads off it. Soap smears it.
If you are searching for headstone cleaning services near me because the marker feels sticky or looks permanently wet, that is oil haze. Tending uses industrial grave site cleaning services with heavy-duty degreasers. We chemically strip this oil layer to reach the bare stone without damaging the polish.
Irrigation "Flash" Scale
On the sun-exposed hills, irrigation water evaporates instantly. The local water is hard. When it hits 140-degree granite, it flashes to steam.
The calcium stays behind. It fuses to the surface. It creates a hard, white mineral armor that hides the inscription.
Scraping this will scratch the stone. We use specialized chemicals in our cleaning stone gravestones protocols. We apply an industrial descaler that melts the mineral bond safely. We turn the hard rock into a soft paste and rinse it away.