Cleaning Shipyard Grit and Leveling Monuments in Portsmouth
Portsmouth is a shipyard town. The work at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard puts a lot of material into the air. We see the result in Cedar Grove and Olive Branch. The headstones get covered in industrial fallout. This isn't normal dirt. It is heavy fallout—actual metal filings. It creates a rough, scratchy surface that feels just like sandpaper. When rain hits it, those iron bits rust and lock onto the granite.
The water is the other fight. Portsmouth is flat and drains poorly. After a storm, water stands in the cemeteries for days. The ground turns to mush. Heavy monuments sink straight down or lean over because the soil under them dissolves. Families searching for headstone cleaning services near me call us to remove this rough industrial grit and to lift monuments that are sinking into the wet ground.
Removing Industrial Grit and Rust
The dust from the shipyard is abrasive. If you try to scrub it off dry, you scratch the polish on the stone. It also contains iron, which leaves rust specks all over the marker.
We float it off. We apply a cleaner that lifts the particulates away from the surface. We rinse it thoroughly to get the grit off without scratching the stone. Then we treat the rust spots. We use a chemical that dissolves the iron particles that have stuck to the granite, leaving the surface smooth and grey again.
Leveling Stones in Standing Water
The soil in Portsmouth stays wet. Mud doesn't hold weight. We see headstones that have sunk so deep the bottom dates are underground. Adding dirt doesn't work; it just turns to more mud.
We fix the foundation. We hoist the monument. We dig out the wet muck. We install a thick pad of angular gravel. The gravel allows water to sit in the gaps without destabilizing the stone. We pack it hard and reset the monument. It stays level even when the ground around it is soggy.
Dissolving Black Carbon Crusts
The older marble stones in Old Town are covered in a hard, black layer. This is caused by decades of urban pollution and salt air reacting with the stone. It forms a crust that traps dirt.
You cannot scrape this off. If you do, the stone comes off with it. We use a chemical poultice. It turns the black crust into a soft paste. We rinse it away with low pressure. This reveals the white marble underneath without destroying the carving.
Clearing English Ivy
In the older, shaded sections of Oak Grove, English Ivy takes over. It climbs the monuments. The roots dig into the mortar joints of brick walls and stone bases, prying them apart.
We cut the ivy at the ground. We let it die before we pull it off. If you pull live ivy, it takes pieces of the stone with it. Once the vines are dead and brittle, we remove them and clean the root marks left behind.
Restoring Bronze Plaques
The salt air from the Elizabeth River attacks bronze markers. The clear coat fails, and the metal corrodes. It turns green and powdery.
We refinish them on-site. We strip the corrosion down to bare metal. We sand the surface to bring back the gold color. We heat the bronze to dry it. We apply a new industrial clear coat. It seals the metal against the salt air and keeps it looking new.
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 Portsmouth
We don't need to visit the cemetery to give you a price. We have fixed, transparent pricing for all our services, including grit removal and leveling. Check our subscription builder to see the exact cost for your plot.
- Grit Removal: Cleaning abrasive shipyard fallout.
- Crust Removal: Dissolving black pollution crusts.
- Leveling: Stabilizing monuments in wet soil.
- Bronze Care: Refinishing salt-corroded plaques.
