Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in O'Fallon

Clay and Construction Dust in St. Charles County

O'Fallon is growing fast. New subdivisions mean moving dirt, and that red dust settles on everything. It coats the headstones in the local cemeteries.

We also deal with the heavy Missouri clay. It creates drainage problems in older grounds like Mount Zion or Assumption. The ground shifts, and the stones go with it. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to level tilted markers and wash off layers of construction grime and hard water scale. We stabilize the foundations and strip the chemical buildup off the stone.

Fighting the Clay Heave

The soil here is dense clay. It holds water. Winter frost swells the wet clay and shoves the stone up. Then the summer heat shrinks the dirt back, leaving gaps around the base.

Headstones don't stay level on moving ground. We see heavy bases tipped over or sinking into soft spots. Adding topsoil is a temporary patch. The clay eventually swallows it. We lift the stone and excavate the wet soil. We install a deep pad of angular gravel. This breaks the contact between the clay and the stone. Water drains away, so the frost can't push the marker around.

Construction Dust Impaction

With all the building going on in O'Fallon, red dust is in the air constantly. It lands on the rough "rock pitch" edges of granite monuments.

Rain turns this dust into a red mud that bakes into the stone pores. A garden hose won't wash it out; it is impacted deep in the texture. We use a cleaner that loosens the clay particles. We flush the pores with low-pressure water. The red stain lifts out, and the natural grey sparkle of the granite returns.

Lawn Chemical Damage

The memorial parks here keep the grass bright green. That requires heavy fertilizers and weed killers.

These salts are corrosive. When mowers throw fertilizer pellets onto a limestone or marble marker, the chemicals eat into the surface. It leaves small pits and rough spots. We neutralize the stone surface to stop the chemical reaction. We wash away the salt residue before it can erode the inscription any further.

Hard Water Scale

Irrigation systems run all summer. The groundwater in St. Charles County leaves heavy calcium deposits.

This builds up a white, crusty haze on polished stones and bronze plaques. It blocks the dates. Scrubbing is useless; the mineral layer is harder than the dirt. We use a buffered acid cleaner. It dissolves the crust on contact. We rinse it thoroughly to protect the polish, leaving the stone dark and legible again.

Lichen on Shaded Stones

In the older, tree-lined sections of Assumption or O'Fallon City Cemetery, lichen is a problem. It grows in crusty grey and green patches.

Lichen roots dig into the stone. If you scrape them, you pull pieces of the rock with you. We use a biocide to kill the growth. It penetrates the organism and kills the root system. The roots let go, and the dead growth washes away in the next storm.

Bronze Restoration

Flat bronze markers are common in the newer parks. The factory clear coat eventually fails under the Missouri sun.

The copper reacts with the air and turns chalky green. The lettering becomes blurry. We restore these markers on-site. We strip the oxidation and the failed lacquer. We polish the bronze relief work until it shines. Then we apply a new industrial clear coat to seal the metal against the elements.

Black Algae Streaks

Humidity gets high in the summer. We see black algae streaks running down the face of upright monuments.

This creates unsightly black tear marks. It makes the stone look neglected. We treat this with a biological cleaner. It kills the spores hiding in the stone pores. The black streaks vanish, and the stone stays clean longer because the biological source is dead.

Service Costs in O'Fallon

Leveling a monument in heavy clay takes more material than cleaning a flat marker. We assess the stability of the ground and the type of staining to give you a fair price.