Cedar Resin (The "Yellow Glue")
The town is named for the trees. Ashe Junipers drop massive amounts of yellow pollen.
This isn't just dust. It is oily. It melts on the warm stone and turns into a sticky resin. Dirt sticks to it and turns black. People searching for headstone cleaning services near me try to wipe it off. That just smears the grease. It ruins the polish.
We use a heavy-duty surfactant. We break the chemical bond of the tree oil. We lift the resin out of the pores so it rinses away clean.
The Limestone Snap
The soil here is thin clay over solid limestone bedrock.
In summer, the clay shrinks. The side of the monument on clay drops. The side on bedrock stays put. The concrete footer snaps. The headstone tips over. Shoving dirt in the hole is a waste of time.
For tombstone repair and restoration, we pin the foundation. We drill into the solid rock. We anchor the footer so the shifting clay can't move the monument anymore.
Quarry Dust Haze
Cedar Park is surrounded by limestone quarries. The air is full of white dust.
It settles on the markers. Dew turns it into cement. The sun bakes it hard. If you wipe it dry, you are rubbing grit across the face. It scratches the finish immediately.
We use a high-volume flush for grave site cleaning services. We float the abrasive dust off the stone with water. We clear the haze without destroying the shine.
Hard Aquifer Scale
The water here comes from the Edwards Aquifer. It is liquid limestone.
Sprinklers hit the stones. The water evaporates, but the calcium stays. It builds a thick white crust on the base. It is harder than the granite. Scrapers chip the stone.
We use a buffered acid for cleaning stone gravestones. We dissolve the calcium bond chemically. The scale melts back into liquid, and we wash it away.
Fire Ant Acid
Fire ants use the stones as heaters. They build mounds against the base.
The mound dirt is acidic. It sits against the polish and burns it. It leaves a dull, etched ring. You cannot wash this damage off. We treat the ground to move the ants. Then we neutralize the acid to stop the burning.