Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Las Vegas

Stone Care in the Mojave Desert

The Mojave environment destroys stone faster than anywhere else. We battle relentless heat and ground that feels like concrete. In cemeteries like Woodlawn and Palm, the elements cook the monuments.

We deal with irrigation sprinklers that leave thick white calcium crusts on markers. We also fix paint that has burned out of the inscriptions and re-attach ceramic photos that fell off when the heat melted the glue. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to remove hard water scale, repaint faded lettering, and level stones on the rock-hard desert floor.

Hard Water Scale (Calcium Deposits)

Cemeteries here water constantly to keep the grass green. The local water is heavy with minerals.

Sprinklers hit the hot stone, and the water flashes off immediately. It leaves a hard white calcium ridge that buries the inscription. It bonds to the stone polish like cement. We use a specialized buffered acid. We dissolve the minerals carefully. Then we buff the stone to bring back the shine without burning the surface.

The "Caliche" Problem

The soil in Las Vegas isn't dirt. It is Caliche—a natural cement layer just under the surface.

Markers don't usually sink here; they heave or tilt as the ground shifts. Re-leveling a stone requires breaking through this hardpan. We use jackhammers and digging bars to create a level surface. We set the marker on a bed of sand and gravel to separate it from the shifting Caliche.

Sun-Bleached Inscriptions

The desert sun destroys Lithichrome (stone paint). Black lettering turns gray or disappears completely within a few years.

A clean stone looks blank if the paint is gone. We re-paint the inscriptions. We use proper monument masking tape. We apply industrial stone paint that resists UV fading, making the name readable again.

Thermal Shock Cracking

The temperature swings here are violent. The stone heats up to dangerous levels and cools down too fast at night.

This stress creates hairline fissures. Rain seeps in, and winter freezing wedges the stone apart. We pump a structural adhesive into the void. This seals the damage and locks the stone back together.

Photo Ceramic Re-attachment

Many markers in Las Vegas have ceramic photos. The extreme heat melts the old adhesives. Pictures slide off and break.

We install new photos or re-attach existing ones. We use a high-heat architectural epoxy that withstands the desert summer. We also clean the oxidation off the bronze frames that hold the pictures.

Bronze Restoration (Sun Damage)

The sun burns the clear coat right off bronze markers. Once the coating is gone, the metal turns a dull brown or chalky green.

We strip the burnt lacquer. We use glass beads to remove the oxidation and reveal the bright bronze metal. We apply a UV-resistant clear coat specifically designed for high-desert exposure.

Service Costs in Las Vegas

Removing heavy calcium buildup is slow, detailed work. Digging in Caliche is physically demanding. We inspect the site to check the thickness of the scale and the soil conditions before giving a quote.