Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Sioux Falls

Cleaning River Silt and Quartzite in Sioux Falls

The Big Sioux River defines the landscape here, but it makes a mess of the cemeteries. When the water rises, it dumps heavy silt on the lower sections of Mount Pleasant and Woodlawn. This isn't normal mud. It is thick, sticky river sludge that dries into a hard gray shell. It covers flat markers completely and leaves a waterline stain on the uprights.

We also deal with the wind. It never stops blowing across the plains, driving agricultural dust into every engraving. Combine that with the local pink Quartzite stones—which are tough but grab onto lichen tight—and you have a maintenance headache. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to chip off that river crust and get the prairie dust out of their family memorials.

Pink Quartzite Restoration

You see a lot of Sioux Quartzite in the older plots. It is harder than granite, but the surface is rough and pitted. Lichen grows deep into those little pits. Scraping is useless here. You end up mashing the lichen roots into the texture instead of getting them out.

The only way to clean this rough stone is to chemically release that grip. We soak the stone in a biocide that penetrates the pits. The lichen dies and releases its hold. Then we use stiff nylon brushes to sweep the dead debris out of the texture without damaging the stone face.

Hardened River Silt

Flooding leaves behind a layer of silt that bakes in the sun. It becomes rock-hard. If you take a shovel or metal tool to this stuff, you will scratch the stone underneath before you break the mud.

We have to soak it. We keep the water on it until that hard shell turns back into soft mud. Then we wash it away with low pressure. It takes patience to soften that baked-on crust, but it is the only way to get the marker clean without leaving tool marks.

Frost Heave and Leaning Stones

The winters here move the ground. The freeze pushes the monuments up, and the spring melt leaves them sitting on soft mud. That’s when they tip over. We see stones leaning at dangerous angles or laying flat on the ground every April.

Pushing them straight doesn't work. The ground is unstable. We dig out the foundation and remove the wet clay. We replace it with deep, angular gravel. This drains the water away so the ice doesn't have anything to push against next winter. The stone stays level because the base is dry.

Impacted Farm Dust

The wind drives dirt from the surrounding corn and soybean fields right into the cemeteries. It packs into the dates and names on the stones. Rain turns it to mud, and the sun bakes it solid. The lettering disappears.

We pick this dirt out by hand. We use wooden picks to clean every single letter. It is slow work, but it clears the inscription so you can read the name from the road again.

Hard Water Scale

The cemeteries water the grass heavily in the summer. The water here leaves calcium deposits. When the sprinklers hit a hot stone, the water evaporates instantly, but the white lime stays stuck. It builds up a cloudy haze that hides the polish.

Soap won't touch this stuff. We use a targeted acid cleaner. We brush it on, watch the lime dissolve, and rinse it fast. You have to be quick. Leaving acid on granite burns the finish, so we wash it down the second the scale breaks loose.

Service Costs in Sioux Falls

Sioux Quartzite is tough to clean, and river silt is heavy to move. Correcting a foundation that has been heaved by frost requires digging and fresh gravel. We can't give a flat rate over the phone. We need to go to the cemetery, check the stone material, and see if we are dealing with simple dust or a sunken foundation.