Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Knoxville

Cleaning Tennessee Pink Marble and Removing Lichen in Knoxville

Knoxville is known as the Marble City. You see that famous Tennessee Pink stone everywhere in Old Gray and Highland Memorial. It is beautiful, but it is soft. It is actually a limestone, not a true granite. It soaks up the valley humidity. Over time, that dampness feeds a heavy black crust. We see bright pink stones turn solid charcoal grey. This isn't just surface dirt. It is a biological growth that eats the stone binder. If you touch an old marker in Knoxville, it often feels sandy because the surface is falling apart.

We also fight the lichen. The air here is wet and still. Lichen loves the rough, rock-pitched edges of the granite headstones. It digs its roots deep into the stone pores. You can't just scrape it off. If you pull dry lichen, it takes chunks of the rock with it. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to safely clean their fragile pink marble and to kill the stubborn lichen that is taking over the family plot.

Cleaning Fragile Tennessee Marble

Tennessee Pink Marble is unique. It is also fragile. High pressure washing destroys it. We see stones where someone used a pressure washer and blew the dates right off the face. The stone turns to sugar.

We clean it with chemistry, not force. We apply a cleaner that soaks into the darkened stone. It kills the mold and algae inside the pores. The black sludge loosens up and dies. We rinse it away with a hose. The pink color comes back because the stone is clean, not because we stripped the surface.

Removing Lichen from Granite

Knoxville cemeteries are full of granite markers with rough, unfinished edges. Lichen colonies grow there. They form hard, green and grey scabs. The roots go deep.

We soak the lichen to soften it. We use a scraper to take off the top layer without scratching the stone. Then we use a deep cleaner to burn out the roots. If you leave the roots alive, the lichen grows right back. Once it is dead, we wash the debris off the stone.

Leveling Stones on Hillside Plots

Greenwood is steep. Heavy rain cuts right under the downhill side of the markers. It eats the dirt away until the stone is hanging over empty air. Without that support, the monument tips forward.

We fix the foundation. We dig out the low side. We don't just shove dirt back in; dirt washes away again. We build a level pad using crushed, angular gravel. We pack it hard. The gravel locks together and supports the weight of the monument. We reset the stone so it stands straight and safe.

Getting Red Clay Out

That East Tennessee red clay is everywhere. Rain splashes the mud against the base of the monument, and it soaks right in. Scrubbing doesn't help because the clay dyes the stone like fabric.

We draw the stain out. We cover the orange band with a chemical poultice. It sits on the stone and pulls the iron pigment out of the pores. We rinse the paste away, and the natural grey color of the granite returns.

Refinishing Bronze Markers

In the memorial parks, flat bronze markers sit right in the wet grass. The factory clear coat fails after a few years. The bronze oxidizes and turns a chalky green.

We restore them on-site. We strip the corrosion down to the bare metal. We sand the raised letters so they stand out against the dark background. We heat the bronze to dry it, then apply a new industrial sealer. It stops the oxidation and keeps the marker looking polished.

Repairing Mower Scuffs

Mowers run tight to the stones. They hit the corners. We see black rubber marks and chipped granite edges.

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 Knoxville

We have flat-rate pricing for the Knoxville area, from Farragut to South Knox. 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.