You will need to scrape the existing lichen (moss) off the stone. You can use half bleach and half water in a spray bottle or bucket. Soak the stone for 15 to 20 minutes and keep applying the bleach water solution to it. You don't want the solution to dry on the stone. Keep it wet and use a nylon scrub brush to clean the stone with bleach water. After you have let the bleach water soak into the stone and have scrubbed the lichen off, rinse the stone clean of the bleach water. Use a bucket or gallon of water to wash the bleach off the stone. You must rinse all the bleached water off of the stone before leaving the cemetery. Avoid cleaning on a hot, sunny day to prevent the bleached water from drying into the stone.

All the stones we sell today are made of granite or bronze (unless we have a request for marble). Granite will not deteriorate, nor will the bronze markers. However, if it is an old marble stone, then yes, over time, it will deteriorate. Please note that we can refurbish old marble markers.

Yes, Bad Axe Marble & Granite Works offers complete restoration of old marble markers, including lettering, design work, and foundations. We typically refurbish the marble monuments during the winter and then place them back in the cemetery in the spring.

As a natural stone, there are many colors available - varying in patterns, density, grains, and veining. We offer granite from all over the world, including Canada, China, India, and Norway. The granite we get from the U.S. comes from Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and other states.

As long as we have the stone in stock, it typically takes four to six weeks for us to engrave the stone and deliver it to the cemetery. If we have to order the stone from a U.S. producer, it takes twice as long - about six to eight weeks for the granite to be shaped and shipped to us. Most of the imported colored stones we offer to take 90 to 120 days to be shaped and shipped to us.