The "Wet Side" Green Slime
West of the Cascades, the rain doesn't stop. It’s a constant drizzle. The stones never get a chance to dry out completely.
We find headstones coated in green slime. It is slick like grease. It fills in the letters so you can't read the name. Scrubbing it just pushes the spores deeper into the rock. We use a biological cleaner that soaks in. It kills the algae roots. It takes a week or two, but the dead growth eventually washes off in the rain. The stone ends up clean, and the polish stays perfect.
Blackberry Vines
If you turn your back on an older cemetery here, the blackberries take over. They form a thick wall. They grow right over the stones and bury them.
Trimming them does nothing. They shoot right back up. As part of our grave site cleaning services, we cut the canes and dig the root balls out. You have to clear a wide circle around the plot. If you leave the roots, those vines will come back and pull the monument over.
The "Dry Side" Irrigation Rust
Cross the mountains, and the air dries out. It gets hot. Cemeteries run sprinklers constantly to keep the grass alive. That well water is often full of iron.
The water evaporates on the hot stone and leaves a hard orange rust stain. It looks like paint. Regular cleaners won't touch it. We use a specific chemical poultice for headstone cleaning services that dissolves iron oxide. We pull that orange stain out of the granite pores so the text stands out again.
Pine and Fir Needle Acidity
Douglas Firs drop needles all year. They pile up deep around the base of the monuments.
Those wet needles are acidic. They sit there and eat into the concrete or limestone base. We rake them away and clean the stone surfaces. We also trim the lower branches. The stone needs airflow to stay dry. If it stays buried in wet needles, it will rot.
Lichen on Rough Granite
On the west side, lichen is everywhere. It loves the rough edges of "rock pitch" granite markers. It forms hard gray scabs.
Lichen roots produce acid. They dig into the stone. If you scrape it off dry, you chip the rock. We soak it with a biocide. It kills it. Once it's dead, it falls off on its own. We save the stone texture by waiting for the chemical to work instead of forcing it.
Glacial Till and Sinking Stones
The ground in the Puget Sound area is loose. It is full of rocks and clay. It turns to soup in the winter rains. Heavy monuments sink into the mud or tip over.
We fix these "leaners" by digging out the unstable mud. We don't put the dirt back. We install a deep pad of crushed gravel. This drains the water away. It gives the monument a solid place to sit so it doesn't sink back into the muck next winter.
Sun Bleaching in the Desert
In the Tri-Cities and Yakima, the summer sun burns the polish right off black granite markers. The stone turns gray and hazy.
Once the polish is burned, you can't fix it in the field. But we can clean the oxidation off. We deep clean the lettering to bring back the contrast. We apply a breathable sealer that blocks UV rays. It helps the stone hold onto its dark color a little longer.
Tenino Sandstone Decay
Local Tenino sandstone was used for a lot of older markers. It is soft. The rain and freeze cycles tear it apart. The face flakes off.
We treat this stone gently. No stiff brushes. We use a water mist to clean the grime. We apply a hardener that soaks in and binds the surface. It stops the crumbling. We can't put the lost stone back, but we can keep the inscription legible.
Big Leaf Maple Stains
The local maples make a mess. When those leaves land on a flat marker and rot, they leave dark brown stains.
Soap won't remove it. The oil goes deep. We use a poultice paste that draws the stain out. We cover the spot and let the paste work for a day or two. When we wash it off, the dark blotches are gone.