Storm Surge Sandblasting
People worry about the wind, but the water does the real damage here. When the surge comes up, it brings the sand. That wet sand hits the granite and scours the polish right off. We find stones that look raw and dull.
The stone is left rough and open to the salt air. You can't polish it back to new out in the cemetery, but we can seal it. We deep clean the rough surface to get the salt out, then apply a stone-specific sealer. It brings back the color and stops the salt from eating deeper into the rock.
High Water Table Sinking
You hit water about three feet down in Biloxi. That’s the reason for all the above-ground tombs. But the flat markers don't have that advantage. The ground underneath them stays soft.
Heavy stones sink fast here. We see them disappear under the grass all the time. We provide grave site cleaning services that include lifting and leveling. We don't just put them back on the mud. We build a raised pad of crushed concrete underneath. It floats the stone on top of the saturated soil so it doesn't sink again.
Salt "Green Rot" on Bronze
The salt spray off the Mississippi Sound destroys bronze. It causes "green rot." That isn't a nice antique finish. That is the salt air eating the bronze. It digs little holes right into the metal plaques at Southern Memorial.
A wire brush just spreads the rot. We strip that green crust off completely. We polish the metal until it looks new, then we spray a heavy sealer on it. You have to seal it, or the salt will turn it back to green dust in a month.
Hardened Silt in Carvings
When the high water goes down, it leaves a heavy gray mud behind. That stuff packs into the lettering. Once it dries in the sun, it gets hard as concrete.
A regular pressure washer won't budge it without damaging the stone. We use a masonry cleaner that softens the silt. Then we pick it out of the letters by hand, inch by inch. It takes time, but it makes the name readable again without chipping the granite.
Black Mildew on Stucco Tombs
Our historic above-ground tombs are often covered in stucco or whitewash. In this humidity, black mildew covers them completely. They turn from white to jagged gray.
You can't blast these old tombs; the stucco will crumble. We use a soft-wash approach. We spray a biocide that kills the mildew without pressure. It cleans the tomb gently and keeps the spores from coming back for a long time.
Live Oak Tannin Stains
The ancient Live Oaks in our cemeteries are beautiful, but they drop dark, acidic leaves. When they rot on a headstone, they leave a nasty brown stain called tannin.
It looks like an old coffee spill. Scrubbing with soap won't move it. That stain is deep inside the rock. We use a poultice powder. We mix it up, slap it on the stain, and cover it. It draws the brown stain out of the stone over 24 hours. When we peel it off, the stone is clean.
Ant Mounds
Fire ants build massive mounds in the sandy soil here. They love the heat of the stones. They tunnel under the base, creating huge air pockets.
One day the stone is level, the next it's tipped over because the ants moved all the dirt out. We treat the mound to get rid of the ants first. Then we fill the tunnels and repack the foundation to get the stone standing straight again.
Seagull Droppings
Seagulls and pelicans are everywhere. Their droppings are acidic and full of shell grit. If it bakes in the sun, it can etch a permanent dull spot into polished granite.
We don't scrub this dry—that scratches the stone. We soak it until it dissolves. We wipe it away gently and rinse the stone to neutralize the acid.
Service Costs in Biloxi
Pricing depends on the damage. Restoring a salt-corroded bronze plaque takes more materials than washing a granite marker:
- Bronze Restoration: Stripping corrosion and sealing against salt.
- Tomb Cleaning: Soft-washing historic stucco vaults.
- Leveling: Resetting stones in high-water-table soil.
- Silt Removal: Cleaning hardened flood mud from letters.
We check the condition of the marker. Then we give you a price.
