Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Waldorf

Scrubbing Highway Grease and Pine Sap in Waldorf

Waldorf sits right on Route 301. Crain Highway is busy. The cemeteries next to it, like Trinity Memorial Gardens, take a beating from the exhaust. The headstones aren't just dusty. They are covered in a greasy, dark layer that comes from diesel smoke.

Springtime brings pine pollen. It coats everything in Charles County. When it rains, that yellow powder turns into a paste. It bakes onto the granite and gets hard. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to degrease their family monuments and to dig sunken markers out of the soft, swampy ground.

Diesel Exhaust Film

Trucks run day and night on Crain Highway. The exhaust particles settle on the stones. It clouds up polished granite and turns rough stone black. You can't just rinse it off. It sticks because it's oily.

We use a specific degreaser made for stone. It cuts through the grease layer without damaging the rock. We scrub it by hand to pull the soot out. Then we rinse it, and the stone looks clear again.

Hardened Sap and Pollen

Loblolly pines drop a lot of sap and pollen here. It lands on the markers and dries out. It creates a hard, yellow-black shell. Dirt sticks to it, making it look worse.

Scraping it scratches the stone. We use a solvent that melts the resin. It turns the hard sap back into liquid so we can wipe it off. We use small brushes to clean the gunk out of the engraved letters so the name is readable.

Sinking in Soft Ground

The water table is high in Charles County. The ground stays soft long after a rain. Heavy monuments settle unevenly. We see headstones leaning dangerously or sinking until the dates are covered.

We hoist the stone out of the way. We dig out the mud and put in a foundation of crushed stone. This drains the water away from the base. We reset the monument on this pad. It stops the sinking because the stone is no longer floating on wet mud.

Mold and Mildew

St. Peter’s has a lot of shade. Mold and mildew thrive there. You see heavy green growth on the stones. It keeps the stone wet, which eventually damages the surface during a freeze.

Pressure washing is dangerous for old stone. It forces water inside. We use a cleaner that kills the growth chemically. The green dies, turns brown, and washes away. The stone stays clean longer because the roots are gone.

Construction Dust

There is always new construction happening here. The dust from grading and building settles on the cemeteries. It is abrasive. If you try to wipe it off with a dry cloth, you sand the finish right off the stone.

We flood the stone with water first to float the grit. Then we use soft brushes and a surfactant to lift the dust safely. This prevents micro-scratches that ruin the mirror finish on black granite.

Service Costs in Waldorf

Removing oily traffic film requires specific degreasers. Lifting a sunken monument takes a crew and gravel. We need to assess the site. A simple cleaning is cheaper than resetting a leaning stone. We give you a firm price after we see the job.