Salt Air Corrosion
We are right on Galveston Bay. The air is salty.
Salt eats everything. It turns bronze markers green ("Bronze Disease"). It pits the surface of granite. Rain doesn't wash it off; it just spreads the salt. We use specific neutralizers for cleaning stone gravestones. We strip the corrosion and seal the metal with hot wax to block the salt air.
Live Oak Tannins
League City is famous for its massive Live Oaks. They are beautiful, but they drop acidic leaves.
When wet, these leaves bleed tannin acid. It leaves dark brown stains on the headstones. It looks like rust. Bleach damages the stone. We use alkaline pastes. They draw the brown stain out of the rock without harming the polish.
Bayou Clay Sinking
The water table is very high here. The soil is soft bayou clay.
Heavy monuments sink deep. They settle unevenly. We see bases buried up to the lettering. Adding dirt is useless; the mud swallows it. For permanent tombstone repair and restoration, we lift the monument. We pour a reinforced footer that floats on the mud to carry the weight.
Tropical Black Algae
The humidity never really drops. The stone stays damp.
Green algae and black mold grow fast. They fill the inscriptions. Pressure washing forces the spores deeper into the stone. We use a biocide soak. It kills the roots so the growth falls off and the stone stays clean.
Spider & Insect Acid
Coastal spiders and insects are active year-round.
They leave small black droppings on the stone. These spots are acidic. They etch into the polish if left too long. We use grave site cleaning services to dissolve these deposits safely before they eat into the surface.
