Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Greensboro

Red Clay Staining

You can't escape the red clay in Greensboro. It is in every yard and every cemetery. Rain splashes this mud onto the granite bases, and it stains them deep orange.

This is iron oxide rust, not surface dirt. Soap won't touch it. Pressure washing is a mistake because it drives the red pigment deeper into the stone grain. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me often assume the stone is ruined. It isn't. We use a chemical neutralizer that targets the iron. It breaks the bond holding the rust in the rock. We wash the surface, and the orange stain disappears.

Historic Mill Soot

Decades of coal smoke from the local textile mills left a mark on the older cemeteries. In places like Green Hill, the headstones are covered in a hard, black crust.

This soot is baked into the rock. It resists standard cleaning methods. If you scrub it hard enough to remove it mechanically, you destroy the stone's polish. We use a chemical carbon-breaker. It dissolves the hardened soot layer safely. We rinse it away to show the original stone color that has been hidden for fifty years.

Lichen on Old Granite

Lichen thrives on the older, rough-cut monuments here. It digs roots into the stone surface and eats the minerals.

Scraping lichen off a dry stone is bad practice. It pulls up chips of the rock, leaving pits behind. We saturate the growth with a surfactant. This forces the lichen to let go. We brush it away gently. The stone gets clean without losing any surface material.

Ice Storm Damage

Ice is a real problem here. Water gets into hairline cracks in the monuments. When a freeze hits, that water turns to ice and pushes the stone apart.

This pressure snaps corners off bases and splits tablets. We repair this damage with monument-grade epoxy. We inject the adhesive and clamp the stone tight. It cures stronger than the granite itself. This seals the crack so water can't get back in and cause more trouble next winter.

Pine Sap Accumulation

Loblolly pines drop sticky sap all over the cemeteries. It lands on the markers and turns into hard resin.

The resin traps dust and pollen, creating black, tar-like lumps. Using a scraper on these lumps scratches the polish. We use a specialized solvent. It melts the sap chemically. The sticky residue wipes off easily. We restore the smooth finish without using abrasives or blades.

Sinking in Shifting Soil

The ground here never sits still. Heavy rain makes it soft, and dry heat makes it hard. That constant motion destabilizes the monuments.

We see markers leaning or sinking deep into the turf. We provide professional grave stone cleaning services that include leveling. We lift the monument out. We dig out the unstable dirt. We install a base of compacted gravel. Gravel drains the water away and locks the stone in place so it stays level.

Service Costs in Greensboro

We price based on the condition of the stone and the type of cleaning needed:

We visit the site. We check the damage. Then we give you a price.