Grave Cleaning & Headstone Restoration in Bennington

Preserving Antique Slate and Marble in Bennington

Bennington is different. You have the history of the Battle Monument and the Old First Church, which means we are caring for stones that have been standing since the 1700s. In the Old Bennington Cemetery, we deal with fragile slate and soft marble that has seen centuries of Vermont winters. The damp air from the Walloomsac valley feeds thick colonies of lichen that hide the inscriptions.

We also deal with the ground moving. The soil in the valley holds water. It doesn't drain well. In winter, that wet ground freezes deep. We see heavy granite monuments in Park Lawn and White Chapel tipped over or sunk deep into the mud. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to carefully clean their ancestors' slate markers and to stand their family monuments back up straight.

Cleaning Fragile Slate Markers

Slate is the classic Vermont stone, but it has a weakness. It is made of layers. Over time, water gets in the edges and freezes. This wedges the layers apart. You can see the damage on the edges where the face of the stone begins to separate from the block.

A pressure washer is the worst tool for this. It forces water between the layers and blows the stone apart. We clean it with a gentle biological solution. We kill the moss and lichen that trap moisture against the stone. By keeping the stone clean and dry, we stop the freeze damage from getting worse.

Restoring "Sugaring" Marble

The white marble used for the Revolutionary War veterans is getting tired. It feels rough, like sandpaper. This is "sugaring." The bond between the stone crystals is breaking down.

We don't scrub these stones. We apply a cleaner that kills the black mold staining the stone. We let the chemistry work, then we rinse it with a garden hose. The stone brightens up, and the lettering stays sharp because we didn't grind the surface down.

Fixing Frost Heaves

The frost in Bennington grabs the bottom of a headstone and shoves it upward. When the ground thaws, the stone drops back down, but it almost never lands straight.

We fix this by digging out the frost-prone soil. We pull the stone, dig a square hole, and fill it with clean, crushed stone. This creates a drainage layer. Water runs right through it, so there is nothing to freeze and push the marker around.

Removing Hard Lichen

On the granite stones in the newer cemeteries, we see heavy lichen growth. It forms hard, grey circles that hold on tight. It roots into the polish.

We turn that lichen into mush before we touch it. We spray it with a specialized cleaner that breaks down the organism. Once it is soft, we brush it off. This gets the stone clean without scratching the finish.

Repairing Mower Scuffs

The grass grows fast here in the summer. Mowers nip the corners of the stones. We see black rubber marks and chipped edges on the bases.

We clean the tire marks with a solvent. For the chips, we use diamond files. We grind the sharp, broken edge into a smooth bevel. It looks intentional and finished, and it protects the stone from getting hit in the same spot again.

Service Costs in Bennington

We have flat-rate pricing for Bennington, North Bennington, and Shaftsbury. 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.