Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Columbia

Removing Pine Sap and Red Clay in Columbia

Columbia is famously hot. That heat does more than just make the air thick. It bakes dirt and sap onto the headstones in Elmwood and Greenlawn. The biggest headache here is the pine trees. They drop sticky sap on the cool granite. The summer sun cooks it until it is rock hard. A pressure washer won't remove it, and scrubbing just smears it around.

We also deal with the soil mix. Columbia sits on the "Fall Line" where the sandhills meet the clay. The ground is sandy and loose, but it also has that red iron content. Stones sink in the sand, and they get stained by the clay. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to remove that stubborn pine sap and to lift markers that are sliding in the loose sandy soil.

Cleaning Baked-On Pine Sap

Pine trees cover Columbia cemeteries. They drop sap constantly. When it dries, it bonds to the granite like glue. Scraping it is a bad idea because you will scratch the polish right off the stone along with the sap.

We melt it off. We use a solvent that dissolves the sap without hurting the stone. We apply it to the hard spots and let it sit. The sap softens up and wipes away. This leaves the stone smooth again without risking damage to the finish.

Lifting Stones in Sandy Soil

The soil in the Sandhills region is loose. It drains well, but it shifts easily. Heavy rains wash the sand out from under the base of the monuments. We see a lot of stones in Columbia that are tipping forward or sinking on one side.

We fix the foundation. We dig out the loose sand. We replace it with angular gravel. Rain drains right through the rocks, so the foundation stays put instead of washing out like sand does. We reset the monument on this rock pad so it stays level.

Extracting Red Clay Stains

The ground here is a mix of sand and red clay. Rain splashes that red mud onto the base of the monuments. The stone drinks it up. It dries into a hard orange ring that soap cannot remove.

We use a poultice to pull it out. We mix a paste that targets the iron in the clay. We cover the stain and let it dry. As it dries, it sucks the orange pigment out of the rock. We wash the powder away, and the natural color returns.

Killing Black Mold

The humidity in the Midlands feeds heavy black mold. It covers the white marble and turns it grey. This mold grows deep into the stone.

We kill it with a biocide. We saturate the stone so the cleaner reaches the roots of the mold. The black growth dies and washes off. The stone gets white again because we removed the infestation, not because we scrubbed the surface down.

Restoring Oxidized Bronze

We see a lot of bronze markers in Greenlawn. The heat and moisture break down the clear coat. The metal oxidizes and turns chalky green.

We refinish them on-site. We strip the old coating and the green corrosion. We sand the letters to make them shine. We heat the bronze to remove moisture, then spray a tough industrial sealer. It keeps the marker looking dark and polished.

Repairing Mower Scuffs

Landscapers move fast. Mowers hit the corners of the granite bases. We see black tire marks and chipped edges on almost every plot.

We clean the rubber marks with a solvent. For chips, we use diamond files. We grind the sharp, broken edge into a smooth bevel. It looks finished and stops the mower from catching that same jagged spot again.

Service Costs in Columbia

We have flat-rate pricing for Columbia, Lexington, and Irmo. We don't need to visit the cemetery to give you a price. Check our subscription builder to see the exact cost for your plot.