Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Summerville

Removing Pine Sap and Pollen Stains in Summerville

Summerville is full of pine trees. For a cemetery, that means constant maintenance. The trees in Summerville Cemetery and Old White Church drip sap all year long. It lands on the granite and hardens in the heat. It forms a black shell that soap and water won't touch. Scrubbing it just spreads the sticky mess around or scratches the polish.

Then there is the pollen. In the spring, everything here turns yellow. That dust settles into the pores of white marble and concrete markers. If it sits there, it turns into a deep yellow or brown stain that rain won't wash away. We also deal with the soft, sandy ground. Flat markers sink fast here. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to melt that stubborn sap off and to lift markers that are disappearing into the sandy soil.

Dissolving Baked-On Pine Sap

Pine sap is the hardest thing to clean off a headstone. Once it hardens, it is like epoxy. A pressure washer won't touch it.

We don't try to scrape it. We use a cleaner that melts it. We apply it directly to the hardened sap. It softens the resin so we can wipe it off. This gets the stone clean without risking scratches from a scraper.

Lifting Sinking Lawn Markers

The ground here is mostly sand. Heavy rains wash that sand out from under the markers. The heavy bronze and granite stones settle deeper every year until the grass swallows them.

We fix this by fixing the base. We pull the marker up. We dig out the soft sand and fill the hole with crushed gravel. We pack the gravel tight. It creates a solid drain field so the water runs through instead of washing the dirt away. We set the stone back on top, level with the grass.

Removing Pollen and Mildew

The mix of humidity and pollen creates a dirty film on the stones. It feeds the black mildew that turns older stones dark grey.

We clean this with a biocide. We soak the stone to kill the mildew roots and break down the pollen buildup. We let it sit, then we rinse it gently. We don't blast the stone. We let the cleaner do the heavy lifting so the stone gets bright again naturally.

Restoring Bronze Markers

Dorchester Memory Gardens is full of bronze markers. The humidity here is rough on them. The clear coat peels off, and the bronze turns a chalky green color.

We restore them on-site. We strip the green corrosion down to the bare metal. We sand the lettering to bring back the gold shine. We heat the metal to get it perfectly dry, then we spray a new protective clear coat. It seals the bronze and keeps it looking dark and polished.

Repairing Mower Scuffs

Mowers run fast to keep up with the grass in the summer. They 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 prevents the mower from catching that same jagged spot again.

Service Costs in Summerville

We have flat-rate pricing for Summerville, Ladson, and Knightsville. 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.