Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Helena

Preserving Historic Limestone and Cleaning Mineral Scale in Helena

Helena has some of the most beautiful historic cemeteries in the state, but they are fragile. The money from Last Chance Gulch bought a lot of fancy limestone and marble monuments back in the 1800s. The problem is that soft stone doesn't like the Montana weather. At Benton Avenue and Forestvale, we see older stones that are flaking apart or covered in thick, crusty lichen.

The other battle is keeping the modern stones clean. The Prickly Pear Valley is dry, so the cemeteries run sprinklers hard. That water leaves a white calcium haze on the granite. We also deal with the deer. Helena is full of them. They knock over vases and sometimes tip over smaller markers. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to carefully clean those delicate pioneer stones or to reset markers that the frost (or the deer) have knocked loose.

Fragile Limestone and "Sugar" Rot

A lot of the old markers in Helena are white marble or limestone. Over a hundred years, acidic rain and frost turn the surface sugary. If you rub your hand on it, white dust comes off. This stone is falling apart.

You can't scrub this. If you use a stiff brush, you will wipe the name right off the face. We clean these by soaking them with a gentle biocide to kill the mold. We rinse them with very low pressure. We aren't trying to make them white again; we just want to stop the biological growth from eating what is left of the stone.

Hard Water Mineral Scale

To keep grass alive here, you have to water it. The water in the valley leaves deposits. On a black granite stone, this looks like a white fog. The sprinklers hit the bottom of the stone first, so that is where the crust is thickest. It clouds up the black granite until you can't read the name anymore.

We strip this off with a specialized cleaner. We brush it on and watch the reaction. The cleaner fizzes as it eats the calcium. We rinse it off fast. You can't let acid sit on a headstone, or it will dull the shine. We use a lot of water to flush the stone clean.

Lichen on Rough Stone

Lichen grows thick on the rough-cut granite and sandstone in the older plots. It holds moisture right against the surface. In January, that wet spot freezes and expands. That pressure pops chips of stone right off the marker.

We kill the lichen to remove it. We spray it and let it die. It turns brittle and lets go of the rock. Then we brush it away. This gets the growth off without chipping the stone, which happens if you try to scrape it while it's alive.

Sinking in Clay Soil

The soil in the valley has a lot of clay. When it gets wet, it gets soft. Heavy monuments settle. We often see stones that have sunk unevenly, so they lean back or to the side.

We fix this by digging out the foundation. We remove the soft clay and pack in crushed gravel. Gravel locks together and creates a solid drainage pad. It keeps the stone level, even when the ground around it gets soaked.

Urban Deer Damage

Deer are everywhere in Helena. In the cemeteries, they eat the flowers and rub against the stones. We frequently find flower vases knocked off or smaller tablet markers tipped over.

We reset these markers using a proper adhesive or by leveling the base. We can't stop the deer, but we can make sure the stones are secure enough to handle a bump.

Service Costs in Helena

Cleaning sugary limestone takes a very light touch. Removing heavy calcium scale takes stronger chemicals. I can't give you a number until I know what the stone needs. We have an online tool for that. You select your cemetery, tell us if you need cleaning or repair, and you see the price instantly.