Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Frederick

Restoring Civil War Era Marble and Limestone in Frederick

Frederick has some of the oldest cemeteries in the state. In Mount Olivet, you walk past the graves of Civil War soldiers and Francis Scott Key. But that marble is tired. The stone is disintegrating. The surface is loose. If you touch it, white powder comes off on your hand.

We also deal with "iron jacking." Builders in the 19th century used iron pins to hold stacked monuments together. Iron rusts. Rust takes up more space than steel. That pressure splits the granite from the inside. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to stabilize these historic stones and to gently clean the biological growth that is eating away at the limestone.

Marble "Sugaring" (Erosion)

Acid rain destroys the binder in old marble. The stone crystals come loose. We call this "sugaring" because the surface falls apart like sugar grains. If you scrub this stone, you will erase the name.

We clean these with very low pressure and soft bristles. We don't use force. Once the stone is dry, we saturate it with a consolidator. This liquid soaks deep into the pores and re-binds the crystals. It stops the shedding.

Cracking from Rusted Pins

Many tall obelisks in Frederick rely on iron pins for stability. Water gets into the seam. The iron rusts and expands with tremendous force. The stone can't stretch, so it cracks.

We take the monument apart piece by piece. We bore out the old, rusted metal. We install new stainless steel or fiberglass pins that won't corrode. We epoxy the crack and stack the stone back up. It is a major repair, but it keeps the monument standing.

Stubborn Lichen on Limestone

Local limestone is porous. Lichen loves it. You see round gray and orange patches all over the older stones. They dig roots right into the rock face.

We kill the lichen chemically. We apply a biocide that soaks into the plant and kills it down to the stone. The dead lichen dries up and washes off with a hose. The stone stays intact.

Black Carbon Crust

Frederick sits between major highways. Exhaust fumes hit the marble and create a chemical reaction. This creates a black gypsum crust. It seals the surface. Water gets stuck behind that shell. When it freezes, it expands and pushes the face of the stone off.

We use a poultice to remove this. It’s a chemical paste that we trowel onto the black areas. It sits there and pulls the carbon out of the pores. We wash the paste away, and the original white stone shows through.

Sinking Foundations

Many old stones didn't get a proper foundation. They were set right on the dirt. Over a century, the soil moves, and the stones tip over.

We lift the marker out. We dig a proper footer and fill it with compacted gravel. This gives the stone a flat, draining base. We reset the marker. It stands straight because it has solid rock under it, not soft dirt.

Service Costs in Frederick

Consolidating sugary marble is specialized work. Replacing iron pins requires lifting equipment. We need to inspect the monument to understand the structural issues. A simple cleaning is affordable, but structural repairs cost more. We provide a detailed quote after inspection.