Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Fargo

Fixing Frost Heave and Cleaning River Silt in Fargo

Fargo ground is heavy, black gumbo. It isn't normal dirt; it is dense clay. It saturates completely. When the temperature drops, that wet ground expands with massive force. It grabs the rough concrete foundations of headstones and shoves them upward. We call this "frost heave." It snaps foundations in half and leaves monuments leaning at dangerous angles.

Then comes the thaw. The clay turns to soup. Heavy granite markers sink. Sometimes they drop six inches in a single spring. On top of that, the Red River floods. When the water goes down, it leaves a coating of fine, grey silt on the stones in Riverside and Lindenwood. This silt dries rock-hard. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to dig their sunken stones out of the gumbo and to chip away that hardened flood mud.

Leveling Stones in Red River Clay

You can't just put dirt back under a sinking stone in Fargo. The clay moves too much. It expands in the spring and cracks open in the summer. This movement throws the marker off balance.

We fix the foundation by removing the clay. We hoist the monument and dig out the black soil. We replace it with jagged, crushed rock. This gravel locks together. Water runs right through it. Without water holding in the base, the frost can't grab the stone and heave it up. The marker stays level.

Removing Hardened Flood Silt

Flood water carries fine sediment. It packs into the engraved dates and names. As it dries, it bonds tight to the granite surface. Rinsing it will not break it loose.

We clean this by hand. We soften the silt with water and a surfactant. Then we pick it out of the letters with wooden tools. We scrub the surface to break the bond. We clear the text completely. We never use sandblasters. Sand cuts through the mud, but it also strips the mirror finish off the granite.

Fixing Broken Foundations

The frost in the Red River Valley snaps concrete pads. The ground shifts so much that rigid concrete cannot hold. You see the headstone tipping because the pad underneath is broken.

We pour new pads. We go deeper, below the frost line if possible, or we build a "floating" pad on a thick layer of gravel. This isolates the concrete from the heaving clay. It keeps the monument straight even when the ground moves around it.

Killing Lichen on Rough Granite

The wind in the valley blows dust and agricultural chemicals onto the stones. This feeds heavy lichen growth. You see orange and grey scabs covering the rough rock bases.

We use a biocide to kill it. We soak the lichen. It turns into a soft mush and lets go of the granite. We wash it off. This clears the stone immediately. Scraping it dry is a mistake; it leaves steel marks on the stone and doesn't kill the roots.

Cleaning Polished Granite

Fargo is windy. Dirt impacts the polished faces of the stones. Over time, this creates a dull, grey film that dims the reflection.

We use a non-ionic cleaner to strip this film. We scrub the stone to lift the impacted dust from the microscopic pores. We rinse it clean. The polish returns to a high shine, and the contrast in the lettering comes back.

Restoring Bronze Markers

Bronze plaques in the memorial gardens oxidize. Snow sits on them for months. The moisture eats the protective lacquer. The bronze turns green and chalky.

We strip the old finish. We sand the corrosion down to bare metal. We heat the bronze with a torch to make sure it is bone dry. Then we spray a new industrial clear coat on the hot metal. It bonds tight. The plaque looks dark and legible again.

Service Costs in Fargo

We don't need to visit the cemetery to give you a price. We have fixed, transparent pricing for all our services, including leveling frost-heaved stones and cleaning flood silt. Check our subscription builder to see the exact cost for your plot.