Bronze "Green Rot" (Salt Corrosion)
Miami air is full of salt spray. This salt is aggressive. It eats through the clear protective coating that protects bronze military markers. Once that seal breaks, the salt attacks the copper inside the metal.
It turns into a green, chalky powder. This is not a nice patina; it is active rot ("Bronze Disease"). It eats physical holes in the metal face. It destroys the names and dates.
If you are searching for headstone cleaning services near me because the plaque looks green, do not use water. Water creates a conductive path for the salt to eat the metal faster. We use specific cleaning bronze cemetery markers protocols. We chemically strip the green corrosion. We neutralize the chlorides so the reaction stops completely. Then, we apply a marine-grade clear coat. This seals the metal and blocks the salt air.
Tropical Black Algae Roots
Humidity in Miami stays high day and night. Porous stone absorbs this moisture. It stays wet deep inside the rock. This damp environment triggers the growth of black algae (Gloeocapsa magma).
It is not just surface dirt. It is a plant. It drives roots into the stone pores. It creates a hard, black shell over the inscription. Scrubbing only breaks the top of the shell. The roots stay alive inside the rock. We use industrial grave site cleaning services with deep-soaking biocides. We saturate the stone. The fluid goes deep into the pores to kill the roots where they hide. The colony dies completely.
Limestone "Sugaring"
Many historic markers in Miami are made of Oolite or limestone. Rain mixes with city exhaust fumes to create weak acid. When this acid hits the limestone, the stone reacts. It dissolves. The surface turns into loose sand.
The binder is gone. The stone feels like rough, damp sugar. We call this "sugaring." If you are searching for tombstone repair and restoration, do not scrub this stone. You will wipe the lettering away. We use liquid consolidants. These are binders that soak into the crumbling stone. They harden the surface and glue the sand grains back together. This freezes the decay.
Sinking in Liquid Sand
The ground here is wet sand. When we get tropical downpours, the water moves fast through the soil. It turns the sand into a liquid slurry. It flows out from under heavy concrete foundations.
The foundation loses its grip. The monument sinks or tips over violently. Adding topsoil does not fix this. Our headstone cleaning service includes checking for this movement. We perform cemetery plot maintenance by installing deep gravel packs. Jagged gravel locks together. It holds the weight even when the sand turns to mud during a storm.
Hard Water Scale
Cemeteries run sprinklers constantly. The water here is full of calcium. When it hits a hot headstone, it boils off instantly. The water leaves, but the calcium bakes onto the stone.
It builds a hard white layer that hides the polish. It looks like white cement splatter. You cannot scrape this off without scratching the granite. We use specialized cleaning stone gravestones chemistry. We apply a descaler that turns the rock-hard calcium back into a liquid. We rinse it away to show the clean stone underneath.
