Stone care

A gravestone is exposed to the elements and needs care. Edurus is on hand if you need help with washing and renovating your gravestone.

Care and renovation of gravestones

Granite is a natural material that is durable and not significantly affected by time, but it still needs some care and attention. The stone can be affected to some extent by sun, rain, dirt, algae and moss. We recommend keeping the stone clean and washing it when necessary for the best lasting protection, preferably in damp weather. Edurus does not impregnate the granite.

Wash the tombstone with lukewarm water. For heavily soiled surfaces, a mild detergent with a neutral pH value can be used, diluted with water. A polished surface is easily wiped with a soft cloth or sponge. Make sure that no grains of sand scratch the surface. A roughly hewn stone can withstand a more vigorous wash, use a brush to remove dirt and stains.

As time goes by, painted and gilded text and decoration becomes more and more fragile, so care must be taken when removing dirt that has settled in depressions in the text and decoration. Clean very carefully to avoid accidentally scratching off the paint, and polish with a soft toothbrush if necessary.

A rough cleaning can be done with high pressure or special acid wash but should be done by a professional, contact us for more information.

Things to consider when caring for gravestones

Granite is sensitive to, among other things, candle wax, oil, rust and high heat. Never place grave candles or marshals on or in the immediate vicinity of the tombstone, as this can cause splashes. Any kind of grease and oil that penetrates the tombstone is very difficult to remove.

Do not place a winter wreath or similar on or against the stone, as these often contain steel wire that will soon start to rust. Even plants’ own oils can peel off and discolor surfaces, which can be good to keep in mind, especially if you bought a light-colored stone.

Family graves and reuse

Perhaps you have a family grave with an old tombstone that you want to add more names to, or you have taken over a recycled tombstone in the cemetery that you want to re-sand. Perhaps you have found a natural stone that you want to use on the grave. Edurus can help you with text completion and the possibility of renewing a gravestone.

In the case of text completion, we need to collect the gravestone from our stonemasonry to create a drawing for the new text and any decorations. The collection and drawing must be approved by both the grave owner and the cemetery administration before work can begin.

Conditions affecting renovation and text completion of the gravestone

If the gravestone is very old or thinner than 10 cm, we advise against regrinding, it can sometimes be difficult to determine from a picture if the quality of the stone is deficient. Please contact us, we make decisions on a case by case basis.

If the gravestone is very large, over 0.7 m² at 10 cm thickness, or weighs more than 150 kg, we cannot perform the supplement.

A natural stone needs to be “smooth as an eggshell” for the result to be good when engraving.

Reinstallation of the tombstone

If the existing foundation is no longer considered safe, there may be additional costs for the reinstallation of the tombstone. When collecting the tombstone, we check whether it is securely mounted. If it turns out that it is not securely mounted, we will inform you of this, as well as the cost of rectifying this, at the same time as we send out the drawing for approval.

For more information on safe installation see link to CGK