Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Bismarck

Cleaning Impacted Dust and Leveling Hillside Graves in Bismarck

The wind in Bismarck pushes dirt into everything. It carries fine grit from the plains. This dust hits the headstones and packs tight into the engraved letters. Rain turns this dust into a hard mud. It dries like concrete. It fills the carving flush with the surface. You can walk past a stone and not see the name at all because the contrast is gone.

We also deal with gravity. Fairview Cemetery sits on steep ground. Rain cuts channels in the dirt. It erodes the soil under the downhill side of the monuments. We see heavy stones tipping forward. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to dig that concrete-hard dirt out of the lettering and to stabilize their sliding markers.

Clearing Impacted Lettering

Pressure washing fails on this packed dirt. The water just bounces off. The mud inside the letters is too hard. If you try to blast it out with high pressure, you chip the stone edges.

We clean this by hand. We use water to soften the mud. Then we use wooden picks to scrape the dirt out of every single letter. We flush it clean. It is slow work. We have to clear each character individually. But it makes the inscription sharp and readable again without damaging the stone.

Leveling on Steep Slopes

Erosion eats the ground on these hills. The dirt washes out from under the front of the base. The stone leans downhill.

We fix this by building a shelf. We dig out the foundation on the low side. We don't put dirt back in the hole. We use angular gravel. We pack it tight. This creates a flat, level platform. Water runs right through the rock. The frost can't grab it, so the stone stays solid.

Removing Hard Water Scale

Cemeteries like St. Mary’s use sprinklers all summer. The water in Burleigh County leaves mineral deposits. We see a hard, white line across the bottom of the monuments. It ruins the mirror finish of the granite.

We dissolve this crust. We use a buffered acid. We paint it on the white buildup. It reacts with the calcium. We scrub the residue off and rinse the stone. The granite underneath is usually clean and dark.

Killing Stubborn Lichen

The dry wind and sun favor lichen growth on rough stone surfaces. We see orange and grey scabs growing on the rock-pitched edges of the bases. These organisms dig roots into the granite.

We kill them chemically. We soak the lichen in a biocide. It turns to mush and releases its grip on the rock. We wash it off. This clears the stone without us having to use wire brushes, which leave rust marks on the stone.

Restoring Military Bronze

The North Dakota Veterans Cemetery has thousands of bronze markers. The harsh winters destroy the protective lacquer. The bronze turns green and chalky.

We restore the finish. We strip the green crust down to bare metal. We use a torch to heat the bronze. The heat evaporates all water from the metal pores. Then we spray a new industrial clear coat on the hot metal. It bonds tight. The plaque looks dark and legible again.

Repairing Mower Scuffs

Mowers slide on the hills. They hit the corners of the stones. We see black tire rubs and chipped granite edges.

We clean the rubber marks with a solvent. For chips, we grind the sharp edge down with diamond files. We create a smooth bevel. It looks finished and prevents the mower from catching that spot again.

Service Costs in Bismarck

We don't need to visit the cemetery to give you a price. We have fixed, transparent pricing for all our services, including hillside leveling and hard water stain removal. Check our subscription builder to see the exact cost for your plot.