Lake Wind Erosion
The wind off the lake never really stops. It blasts these stones with sand and ice all year round. It works just like a sandblaster, only slower.
Over time, it strips the polish right off the granite. The letters get shallow and hard to read. You can't fix that with a rag and polish. We provide professional grave stone cleaning services that include sealing. We clean the stone and apply a protective coating. It won't make it look brand new, but it stops the wind from eating any more of the stone away.
Steel Mill Fallout
We are a steel town. The mills ran hard for decades, pouring smoke into the sky. That smoke was heavy with iron dust. It settled on the headstones in places like Elmwood and rusted there.
It forms a rough, rusty scab that bonds to the rock. Rain just rolls right off it. If you try to scrape it, you're going to scratch the stone. We use a chemical paste that targets the iron. It pulls the rust out of the pores. We wash it away, and the stone looks gray again instead of that dirty orange color.
Seagull Droppings
The lake brings seagulls. They land on the headstones and leave a mess. That waste is full of acid.
On marble, it burns dark spots right into the surface. The sun bakes it until it feels like cement. We apply a cleaner to soften the mess. It turns that hard crust into sludge we can wipe away. Then we flood the stone with water to wash the acid out of the pores.
Sinking in Sandy Soil
Near the lake, the ground is sandy. It shifts around a lot, especially when the water table moves. We see markers that have sunk halfway into the ground or tilted sideways.
We provide grave site cleaning services that include leveling. We lift the stone up. We dig out the loose sand and pack in a base of heavy crushed stone. This gives the monument a solid footprint that won't slide around when the ground gets wet.
Moss and Lake Dampness
The lake humidity hangs over everything here. In the shade, the stone stays wet all day. That creates the perfect spot for green algae and moss to take over.
This stuff holds water against the stone, which causes freezing damage in the winter. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me often try bleach, but that eats the stone. We use a biological cleaner. It kills the moss down to the root. The growth dies and falls off, and the stone stays clean longer.
Winter Freeze Pops
Our winters are wet and cold. Water gets into the seams of the base or into tiny cracks in the tablet. When it freezes overnight, it expands.
That pressure pops corners off and splits bases. We fix this by cleaning out the broken area and injecting a stone adhesive. It bonds the pieces back together into one solid block. It keeps the water out so the ice can't do any more damage next year.
Shipyard Grease
With the shipyards and the port, there is always oil in the air. It creates a greasy film on the stones that grabs dirt and holds it.
Water won't cut through that. You need a real degreaser. We use a solvent meant for industrial grime. It breaks down that oily layer so we can rinse the dirt away. You'd be surprised how bright the stone is once that gray film is gone.
Mower Scuffs
The grass grows fast in the summer. Mowers hit the stones. We see black rubber marks on the corners of almost every flat marker in town.
That rubber melts into the stone texture. We use a solvent that dissolves the smear instantly. We wipe it clean. Then we trim the sod back to give the mowers a buffer zone so they don't hit it again.
Service Costs in Lorain
Pricing depends on the job. Lifting a stone out of sinking sand costs more than just washing off bird droppings:
- Rust Removal: Cleaning steel mill fallout.
- Leveling: Resetting stones in sandy soil.
- Bird Mess: Removing acidic droppings.
- Moss Treatment: Killing lake algae.
We inspect the site. We check the sinking. Then we give you a price.
