Piedmont Red Clay Stains
If you are in the Piedmont region, you know about "Carolina Red Clay." It is heavy and full of iron. Rain splashes this red mud onto the base of headstones.
The stone sucks up the iron water. When it dries, it leaves a bright orange band around the bottom. You cannot scrub this out with soap. If you use bleach, you make it permanent. Bleach locks the rust into the granite pores instantly. We see ruined monuments all the time because of this mistake. We use iron-specific surfactants for grave site cleaning services. We lift the iron chemically and rinse it away to restore the natural gray or pink color of the stone.
"Tar Heel" Pine Pitch
North Carolina is the Tar Heel State for a reason. Pine trees dominate our cemeteries. They drip sticky pitch (sap) year-round.
This pitch lands on the hot stone and melts into the texture. It solidifies into a hard, black patch. Pollen and dust stick to it immediately. Water runs right off it. If you scrape it, you scratch the polish. We use a solvent poultice for cleaning stone gravestones. We soften the hardened pitch until it wipes off without damaging the surface.
Mountain Lichen Growth
In the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, the air is clean. This allows crustose lichen to grow thick on granite markers.
This isn't surface moss. Lichen digs microscopic roots into the rock grain to eat minerals. If you pull it off dry, you rip out pieces of the stone face. It leaves pits behind. We use headstone cleaning services near me with biological cleaners. We saturate the lichen to kill the organism. It releases its grip and washes away safely.
Coastal Salt and Mold
East of I-95, the humidity and salt air take over. The dampness feeds thick black mold and green algae.
The mold covers the inscription. The salt gets inside the stone and expands, causing the face to flake off. Pressure washing is dangerous here because it forces salt water deeper into the rock. We use low-pressure biological treatments. We kill the mold root and draw out surface salts to stop the deterioration.
Oak Tannin Stains
Large Oak trees provide shade in many historic NC cemeteries. They drop acorns and leaves that sit on flat markers.
When these leaves rot wet, they release tannins. This leaves a dark brown stain that looks like coffee. It is acidic and etches marble. We use drawing powders during cemetery plot maintenance. We pull the brown stain out of the pores and neutralize the acid to save the finish.
Freeze-Thaw Spalling
Our winters in the western part of the state get cold. Rain soaks into small cracks in the stone during the day.
At night, that water freezes. It pushes the stone apart. This causes "spalling," where the face of the monument pops off. We inspect for these cracks at every visit. We seal them to keep water out before the stone splits.
Fire Ant Damage
Fire ants are everywhere in NC. They build mounds against the base of headstones to stay warm.
The mound dirt becomes acidic. If it sits against polished granite for a season, it burns the finish. It leaves a rough, dull ring that you cannot polish out. We treat the ground to move the colony. We neutralize the soil acidity during our visits to prevent permanent scarring.
