Caloosahatchee River Humidity
Fort Myers lies right on the river. The water keeps the air heavy. Thick fog rolls in at night and covers the cemeteries. Granite markers drink this moisture up. They stay saturated deep inside. This constant wetness feeds Gloeocapsa magma (black algae).
You see a dark, tar-like film on the stone. It traps heat. It hides the epitaph.
Searching for headstone cleaning services near me often points to bleach. Do not use it. Bleach whitens the surface but burns the stone matrix. It leaves the roots alive deep in the damp pores. We use specialized grave site cleaning services. We use a biological soaking agent. It penetrates the rock. It kills the algae cells chemically. The black crust lifts off. The stone stays clean.
Palm Berry & Frond Stains
Royal Palms line many local cemeteries. They drop heavy, oil-rich berries. These smash onto the markers. The purple oil soaks into the granite. It creates stubborn, ugly stains.
Soap spreads oil; it does not remove it. We use professional cleaning stone gravestones chemistry. We apply a solvent poultice. It draws the biological oils out of the stone matrix. We rinse it away without abrasive scrubbing.
River Soil Washout
The soil here is sandy loam. It gets unstable when wet. Tropical storms turn this dirt into mud soup. Water scours the earth out from under the concrete foundation.
The base loses support. The monument tilts or sinks. Adding topsoil is a waste; it washes out in the next storm. For lasting tombstone repair and restoration, we stabilize the sub-base. We excavate the loose loam. We install angular gravel. The rocks lock together. They create a friction pile. This supports the weight, even in wet soil.
Brackish Air Corrosion
The river is brackish. The wind carries salt. This attacks bronze markers. It eats the protective lacquer. Once the seal breaks, the copper corrodes. You see green, chalky rot.
This pits the metal lettering. We use strict cleaning bronze cemetery markers protocols. We strip the dead coating. We neutralize the chlorides. We heat the metal and reseal it with marine-grade clear coat. This blocks the humid, salty air.