Clearing Pine Sap and Forest Overgrowth in Coventry
Coventry is the biggest town in the state by area, and most of it is woods. We do a lot of work in the big active cemeteries like Woodland, but we also spend a lot of time hiking into the historical plots off the main roads. The biggest issues here are nature taking over: pine sap dripping on the stones and grass swallowing the flat markers.
Access is the real challenge. In places like Greenwood or the family plots near the Connecticut line, we can't always drive the truck to the grave. We have to haul our gear in by hand. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to find "lost" markers buried under the turf and to scrape off decades of hardened tree pitch.
Pine Sap (Tree Pitch) Removal
The white pines here drop sap all year round. On a headstone, that sap turns into hard, black knots. It’s like road tar. Scrubbing just spreads the black goo everywhere. It turns a small spot into a big, oily mess.
Soap and water won't touch this stuff. We use a specialized solvent to melt the hardened pitch. It takes patience—you have to dissolve the spot and wipe it clean before it dries again. We do this spot by spot until the stone is smooth, then wash off the chemical residue.
Buried Flat Markers
Grass in these rural plots is aggressive. It sends runners right over the flat stones. After a few years, the grass covers the marker entirely. We get calls from people standing right where the grave should be, looking at nothing but lawn.
We use a steel rod to find the edges of the stone under the dirt. Then we peel the sod back. We dig a clean edge around the marker and fill that gap with crushed stone. That gravel barrier keeps the grass from creeping back onto the nameplate.
"Rock Tripe" and Heavy Lichen
The air is clean in Coventry, so the lichen grows huge. We see "Rock Tripe"—big, grey, leafy patches. They hold moisture against the stone, which freezes in winter and cracks the surface.
You can't scrape this stuff dry. It holds on too tight. We soak it with a biocide to kill it first. Once it turns mushy and dead, it lets go of the granite. Then we can brush it off without scratching the monument.
Leveling Stones on Soft Ground
The soil in the woods is soft. Big monuments are heavy. They settle unevenly. Once they lean past a certain point, they topple over.
We hoist the stone out of the hole and dig out the muck. We replace it with a pad of angular gravel and pack it down tight. This gives the monument a hard base that drains water, so it stands up straight even during the spring thaw.
Service Costs in Coventry
The price depends on the location. Hauling water by hand into the woods kills the schedule, so remote jobs cost more. Pine sap is also slow to clean because we have to do it by hand. We need to walk the site to give you a number.
- Sap Removal: Dissolving hardened pine pitch.
- Sod Edging: Uncovering flat markers buried by grass.
- Lichen Cleaning: Safe removal of heavy biological growth.
- Resetting: Leveling leaning stones in soft soil.
