Summer Clay Cracks
McKinney sits on black clay. In summer, this dirt shrinks fast. It pulls away from foundations, leaving gaps you can stick your hand in.
The foundation loses side support. When the next storm hits, water rushes into those gaps and destabilizes the base. The monument tilts instantly. Adding dirt doesn't work; it just falls into the abyss. For permanent tombstone repair and restoration, we install deep gravel piers. We anchor the stone below the active soil line so it stays put.
Pecan Tree Tannins
McKinney is named for these trees. They are everywhere in the older cemeteries. They drop husks and leaves that are loaded with dark acid.
Rain leaches this acid onto the stone. It leaves deep brown streaks that look like tobacco stains. It soaks into the pores. Bleach damages the old stone face. We use alkaline poultices as part of our grave site cleaning services. We draw the brown stain out of the rock chemically.
Historic Limestone Rot
In the historic sections like Pecan Grove, markers are made of soft limestone. They are dissolving.
Acid rain eats the binder. The stone turns to powder on the surface. We call it "sugaring." If you touch it, sand falls off. Searching for headstone cleaning services near me usually suggests scrubbing. That rubs the name right off the stone. We use consolidants. These liquids soak in and re-harden the stone matrix to stop the decay.
Highway 75 Road Film
The traffic on 75 and 380 is constant. Diesel exhaust and rubber dust settle on the cemeteries.
The sun bakes this mix into a grey, greasy film. It creates a waterproof shell on the granite. Water won't touch it. We use industrial degreasers for cleaning stone gravestones. We break down the oil bond so we can rinse the traffic grime away without abrasion.
Shade Algae
Big old trees mean big shade. The sun never hits some of these markers.
They stay wet. Green algae and moss take over. They eat into the inscription. Pressure washing destroys these old stones. We use a biocide soft-wash. It kills the spores and loosens the grip of the moss so it falls off naturally.
