Groundskeeping Damage and River Clay
Sterling Heights likes clean lawns. The cemeteries here, like Resurrection and Cadillac Memorial, are manicured. But keeping that grass perfect hurts the stones.
We see damage here that comes from maintenance, not neglect. Fertilizer burns the granite. Mowers chip the edges of flat markers. On top of that, we sit in the Clinton River basin. The ground is wet clay. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me usually need us to fix chemical stains or level a stone that the frost has pushed sideways.
Fertilizer Burn
To keep the cemetery grass green, crews use heavy fertilizer. These granules are full of salts and iron.
When fertilizer sits on a porous stone or a bronze plaque, it creates a chemical burn. On granite, it leaves rusty orange spots or white salty rings. On bronze, it eats right through the coating. We can't just wash this off with water. We use chemical neutralizers to stop the reaction and draw the salts out of the stone.
Mower Deck Damage
In the memorial parks, most markers are flat bronze or granite. Over time, they settle into the soft soil.
Once a marker sits below the grass line, the mower deck hits it. We see gouges in the bronze and chunks missing from granite edges. Tire tracks grind dirt into the names. We fix this by lifting the marker. We pack the hole with gravel so the stone won't sink again. We set it high enough to clear the blades but flush enough to look right.
Clay Soil and Frost Heave
The ground here is heavy clay. It holds water like a bucket. In January, that water freezes.
The ice pushes the ground up. We call it frost heave. It lifts monuments and twists them. When the thaw comes, the stone drops back down, but it lands crooked. We see 500-pound bases tipped over. To fix it, we have to get rid of the clay. We dig a new foundation and fill it with crushed stone. This drains the water so the ice can't move the marker.
Road Film from M-59
The Hall Road (M-59) and Van Dyke corridors are packed with traffic. That exhaust doesn't disappear. It lands on the cemeteries.
It forms a greasy, dark film on the headstones. Rain smears it but doesn't remove it. It makes polished granite look dull and gray. We use a commercial degreaser to cut through the traffic film. We strip it off to reveal the true color of the stone.
Clinton River Humidity
The river winds through the city. It keeps the ground water high and the air damp.
In shaded spots, this humidity breeds algae. We find thick green slime on the sides of bases and black mildew in the lettering. It makes the stone slippery and ugly. We kill it with a biocide. We don't scrub it while it's alive; that just spreads the spores. We kill it, let it dry, and wash it away.
Bronze Oxidation
Cadillac Memorial Gardens is full of bronze markers. The humidity and lawn chemicals attack the metal.
The protective lacquer fails, and the bronze turns chalky green. We restore these on-site. We strip the metal down to bare copper and tin. We remove the corrosion. Then we apply a new, heavy-duty clear coat. It seals the bronze against the fertilizer and the rain.
Hard Water Deposits
Irrigation systems run constantly in the summer. The well water here leaves calcium behind.
It builds a white, cloudy scale on the markers. It looks like a cataract over the name. You can't scrape it off without scratching the bronze or stone. We dissolve it with a buffered acid. It eats the calcium but leaves the marker safe.
Service Costs in Sterling Heights
Pricing depends on the issue. Neutralizing chemical burns takes specific materials. Lifting a sunken marker is labor-intensive. We inspect the plot to give you a firm price.
- Chemical Cleaning: Removing fertilizer salts and rust stains.
- Raising & Leveling: Fixing sunken flat markers and tipped monuments.
- Bronze Refinishing: Stripping and resealing oxidized metal.
- Degreasing: Removing heavy road film from traffic.