River Valley Mold
Augusta is humid. We are right on the Savannah River. The air stays heavy and wet. Headstones here stay damp.
This dampness feeds black mold and mildew. It grows into a thick, dark crust on granite and marble. It covers the name and dates. Families looking for headstone cleaning services near me often think the stone is ruined. It is just covered in biological growth. Pressure washing is dangerous on older stones; it blasts the surface away. We use a biological cleaner. We kill the root system of the mold. The black gunk dries up and falls off. The stone is clean again without using high pressure.
Azalea and Wisteria Staining
They call Augusta the Garden City. Azaleas and Wisteria are in every cemetery. They drop petals on the markers constantly.
Those petals rot in the heat. They leave dark purple or brown stains. We call this "petal burn." It looks like a bruise on the stone. Soap won't touch it because the dye soaks deep into the rock. We use oxidizing agents for cleaning stone gravestones. We bleach the organic dye out of the stone chemically. We neutralize the acid so the polish stays smooth.
Fire Ant Damage
The Sand Hills area has loose, sandy soil. Fire ants love digging in it. They build mounds right up against the base of monuments.
Ant mound dirt is acidic. If it sits against a polished base, it eats the finish. It leaves a dull, rough ring that you cannot polish out. We treat the mound to move the colony. We clean the acidic soil away during grave site cleaning services. We stop the ants from scarring the memorial permanently.
Sprinkler Hard Water Deposits
Cemeteries here water the grass constantly. Our local water is hard and full of iron. The sprinklers hit the headstones every morning.
The water dries, but the minerals stick. It builds up a hard white scale or a rusty orange layer. If you try to scrape this off, you will scratch the stone. We use mineral solvents to dissolve these deposits safely. We clear the haze so the name is sharp again.
Sandy Soil Washout
Our sandy soil moves when it rains. We get heavy storms that wash the ground away.
Sand washes out from under the concrete foundations. We find headstones tipping forward. Shoveling sand back under the base does not work; the next storm takes it right back out. During cemetery plot maintenance, we pack heavy angular gravel under the base. The water flows through the gravel without moving it. The stone stays level.
Pine Sap Pitch
Pine trees are everywhere. They drip sticky pitch year-round. It lands on the stone.
The pitch hardens into black lumps. Dust sticks to it. It creates ugly black patches that look like tar. Water runs right off it. We use solvent poultices. We soften the hardened pitch until it wipes off clean. We remove the mess without damaging the stone surface.
Historic Brick Decay
Older cemeteries like Magnolia have a lot of brick walls and coping. The humidity rots the mortar.
Weeds grow in the cracks and push the bricks apart. We carefully remove the vegetation. We don't just yank the weeds; that pulls loose bricks down. We cut them and kill the roots. We keep the site tidy so you don't need to call grave cleaners near me for emergency masonry repairs later.
