Cherry Blossom Stains
Macon is famous for cherry trees. They look good in March, but they are a disaster for cemeteries in April. Thousands of trees drop wet petals on the headstones.
These petals stick to the wet stone and rot. They release a dark, acidic liquid. It leaves brown blotches on white marble. We call it "blossom burn." Soap won't move it because the stain goes deep into the rock. Families looking for headstone cleaning services near me usually want these spots gone. We use an oxidizing cleaner. We pull the organic pigment out of the pores. The brown spots vanish, and the stone looks white again.
Sticky Kaolin Clay
We sit on the Fall Line. The soil here has kaolin in it. That is a white, sticky clay. When it splashes onto a marker, it creates a mess.
It dries hard, like cement. It packs into the engraved dates and names. You can't just brush it out. If you scrape it, you scratch the polish. We use low-pressure steam and surfactants for cleaning stone gravestones. We soften the clay so it flows out of the lettering. We clean the inscription without using abrasive tools.
River Valley Black Algae
The Ocmulgee River keeps the air heavy. In older cemeteries like Rose Hill, trees block the sun. The ground stays damp.
Black algae loves this. It forms a hard, dark crust over the monument. It looks like soot, but it is biological. Pressure washing is dangerous for the old stones found here. It strips the surface. We use a biological biocide. We kill the algae. It dries up and flakes off. The stone is clean, and the surface stays intact.
Hillside Erosion
Macon is hilly. Many graveyards are built on slopes. Gravity pulls the soil downhill towards the river.
We see monuments tipping forward. The dirt slides out from under the front edge. You cannot just pack loose dirt back under it. Rain will wash it out again. During cemetery plot maintenance, we dig out the loose soil. We install a leveled base of angular gravel. The gravel locks together. It stops the movement and keeps the monument upright.
Historic Coal Soot
Macon was a railroad hub. For decades, coal trains pumped smoke over the city. That carbon settled on the older monuments.
It turned into a hard black shell on the marble. Rain runs right off it. It is bonded to the stone chemically. We use restoration pastes for grave site cleaning services. We break that bond. The black sludge rinses off. The original white stone is visible again.
Lichen Growth
In the sunny parts of Riverside Cemetery, lichen is the problem. It forms crusty green and orange circles on the granite.
Lichen eats rock. It digs roots into the minerals. If you scrape it dry, you pull up pieces of the stone. We treat it with a soaking agent first. The lichen dies and lets go of the stone. We brush it off gently. This protects the finish from pitting.
Overgrown Boxwoods
Old plots here often have boxwoods. After fifty years, those bushes are now trees. They push the headstones over.
Roots lift the base. Branches scratch the face of the stone. We trim back the overgrowth. We can't remove big trees, but we cut them back so they get off the stone. We keep the monument clear so it isn't swallowed by the bushes.
