Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Glen Burnie

Scrubbing Jet Fuel Fallout and Raising Bronze in Glen Burnie

Glen Burnie sits right under the flight path of BWI. You hear the planes, and the cemeteries feel the pollution. Unburnt jet fuel and exhaust settle on the headstones in places like Glen Haven and Holy Cross. This residue creates a yellow tackiness. Dirt sticks to it instantly and won't brush off.

The other issue is the ground. The soil here is heavy clay. In the large memorial parks, flat bronze markers sink fast. The landscaping crews mow right over them. We often find markers buried under two inches of sod. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to dig out these lost markers and to strip the oily airport grime off the granite.

Jet Fuel and Highway Film

Between the planes and the traffic on Ritchie Highway, the air is thick with pollutants. That oily mix lands on the headstones and hardens. You can't clean this with just water. The stone is basically waterproof now. If you spray it, the water runs straight off without taking any dirt with it.

We have to chemically strip it. We soak the stone with a degreaser and give it time to work. It needs to dissolve the oil before we even start scrubbing. You can see the water turn black as we wash it off. This reveals the true color of the granite underneath.

Sunken Bronze Markers

Glen Haven Memorial Park has thousands of flat bronze plaques. They look nice when new, but they settle into the mud. Once they drop below the grass line, the grass grows over the face.

We probe the ground to find the corners. We cut the turf back and lift the heavy marker out. We don't just drop it back in the hole. We add a layer of crushed gravel and tamp it down. We set the marker back so it sits slightly higher than the lawn. This keeps the grass from swallowing it again.

"String Trimmer" Damage

Landscapers move fast. When the string trimmer hits the granite, the plastic line melts. It leaves black smears on the stone face and chips the corners.

Chips are permanent, but the melted plastic comes off. We dissolve the nylon with a chemical wash and scrape it clean. We also cut a fresh border around the base to keep the landscaping crews away from the stone.

Green Corrosion on Bronze

The fertilizers used to keep the cemetery grass green are harsh. They react with bronze markers. The protective coating fails, and the metal turns a chalky green.

We strip the failed coating down to the bare metal. We polish the raised letters to bring back the golden-brown shine. Then we apply a clear lacquer made for outdoor metal. This seals the bronze and stops the fertilizer from eating it.

Clay Mud Staining

Anne Arundel clay is red and heavy. Rain splashes it up against the base of the monuments. It dries into the rock and creates a hard orange ring that scrubbing won't remove.

Pressure washing often drives the clay deeper. We use a chemical that pulls iron and clay particles out of the stone. We rinse it gently. It removes the orange stain without damaging the stone face.

Service Costs in Glen Burnie

Cleaning oily fallout takes strong chemicals and elbow grease. Digging up a double bronze marker is heavy lifting. We have to walk the plot to give a quote. A quick wash is one price; digging out a sunken marker or cutting back vines adds labor.