Stone Care on the Marshland
Scarborough is built on the edge of the biggest salt marsh in Maine. The ground here is either sandy beach soil or heavy, wet marsh mud. Both are hard on headstones.
In historic Black Point or Dunstan Cemetery, we see stones sinking into the wet earth and bronze markers turning green from the sea air. The water table is high here. It keeps the stone saturated and weak. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to lift these sunken markers and protect their memorials from the corrosive salt fog that rolls in off the marsh.
Marsh Mud Suction
The soil near the marsh is heavy and wet. It creates suction. Over time, it pulls flat markers and heavy bases down into the muck.
We often find stones buried inches below the surface. You can't just pry them up; the suction holds them tight. We dig around the perimeter to break the seal. We lift the stone and excavate the wet mud. We replace it with coarse, angular gravel. This breaks the suction and gives the stone a solid platform that won't sink.
Salt Corrosion on Bronze
Scarborough Memorial Cemetery has many flat bronze markers. The salt air eats the protective factory coating.
Once the coating fails, the copper inside the bronze reacts with the chlorides in the air. It turns a chalky green. This corrosion pits the metal. We strip the damaged lacquer and sandblast the corrosion (carefully) or polish it out. We apply a new, industrial-grade clear coat to seal the metal against the salt air.
Sand Washout
Near the beaches, the soil is pure sand. It drains well, but it has no structure. Heavy rain washes the sand right out from under the headstones.
The monuments tip over. We see them leaning dangerously. We jack up the stone and remove the loose sand. We pack the hole with crushed stone and stone dust. This mixture locks together hard, unlike sand, so the rain can't wash the foundation away.
Coastal Lichen Infestation
The fog from the marsh carries moisture and salt. Lichen loves this mix. It grows thick and fast on the granite.
We see hard orange and grey crusts that hide the dates and names. This lichen digs roots into the stone. If you scrape it, you pull up mineral grains. We use a heavy-duty biocide. It soaks in and kills the lichen at the root. The crust dries up and falls off, leaving the stone clean.
Slate Splitting at Black Point
Black Point Cemetery holds some of the oldest history in Maine. The slate markers here are splitting (delaminating) from centuries of freeze-thaw cycles.
Water gets between the slate layers and freezes. It pushes the face of the stone off. Once a piece falls, it’s gone. But we can seal the cracks to save what's left. We inject a specialized grout into the open seams. It fills the void and blocks water from getting back in.
Salt Efflorescence
The ground water here is salty. Porous stones like marble act like a wick. They pull that water up from the soil.
When the water dries, the salt stays trapped. It blooms on the surface as a white powder. That fuzz is proof that internal crystals are blasting the stone apart. We apply a poultice to draw the salts out of the stone pores before the face spalls off.
Biological Algae (Green Staining)
The high humidity from the marsh keeps stones wet for days after a rain. This breeds green algae.
It turns white marble green and slippery. It looks terrible, but it also traps acid against the stone. We spray a biological cleaner that kills the algae cells. We gently scrub the dead organic matter away, restoring the white color of the marble.
Service Costs in Scarborough
Restoring a bronze marker takes different chemicals than cleaning a slate headstone. Digging out a sunken marker in marsh mud is heavy work. We inspect the site conditions before we give you a price.
- Bronze Refinishing: Stripping and sealing corroded plaques.
- Mud Stabilization: Resetting markers in wet marsh soil.
- Sand Leveling: Fixing tipped stones in sandy areas.
- Slate Repair: Grouting delaminated historic markers.
