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From: Jane Foley <>
Subject: [Abbeville] Update Tombstone protection
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 14:12:03 -0500

Well, it looks like there are alot of opinions on this tombstone
protection thing. So I thought I had better pass these ideas along to
you. So here goes.


Jane
******************

That's a really neat idea! I'd like to add another idea that my son
came
up
with that work also. My gggrandparents tombstones were broken into
several
pieces by cattle be allowed to roam in the cemetary. He took them to
his
workshop and laid the stones flat down on their faces, (pieced back
together) and put a bolt in the back of each piece. He then built a
form
around the headstone twice the depth of the stone and poured concrete to

fill the form and to cover the metal bolts. This way the stones were
stood
back up in their original places, and will last as long as the concrete
does. This one works for me. There may be others out there that also
work.

Margaret

**************

I hope they are not using the clear acrylic coating. I did some rocks
with it to bring out the color and set them outside. After a few years
of just going through all the weather the coating yellowed and is still
peeling in bitty pieces.

Frances

**************

Oops on the clear coating. All stone has moisture in it. especially
marblesand sealing it will cause it to freeze and slough off in layers
so that the front will just fall off. I have worked in Tombstone work
for along time. It's horrible what it does. It will speed up the damage
if it can't
breathe or expand, somewhat like a concrete sidewalk, it needs
expanders and the coating seals it in. It might work in the
dry desert but I doubt if its needed there.
Tombstones are so easy to damage that even someone repeatedly resting
their hand on a corner will make it go yellow. There was one in
my family that always got 'patted' right in the middle, now some
30 years later it is yellow right there.

Another thing people do is try to scrub out the lichen growing on a
granite or marble. the cleaners make it look good for a few years then
it
will cause it to crumble and turn a yellow color.lichen grows deep
inside
before you see it enough on the outside of the stone to bother you. Just

buff it off with a soft flannel cloth. It has already made thin cracks
inside the stone itself..These rootspaces are full of plant material and

water , little compost bins sort of.

There is a tombstone near me that I am still trying to figure out. I
have sifted through the soil and found the letters in one and two's and
trying to spell it out. it was a native stone that exfoliated its layers

offdue to freezing and thawing. They came off neat as puzzle pieces
I just don't have all the letters yet.

I have seen all kinds of frames put on the old ones, some work well, but

really need afiberglass infiltrated epoxy so it won't expand and
contract
like cement. though some of the new cement to fiber mixes seem not to do

so much of it.

If you have to resection one, use nylon sticks that are put through a
pipe threader, they are used as pegs to epoxy the parts back together.
You
can also get a plastic epoxy grid made to hold sections of a broken
tombstone. It can be shaped by any company who makes the outdoor type of

resin decorations and tables etc. They never expand and contract or
react
to the chemicals in stone.

I have seen horror stones! Some in Weatherford Texas where 'saved' by
laying them flat into concrete! They were marble and the letters are
being
frozen and cracked and weatherd right out of them. They needed to be
'rested' and epoxyed against a wedge shaped cement or stone so the water

would drain from it. Epoxy being a lot more forgiving and the least
chemical reaction. Cement is limey and will eat marble and disolve it
eventually. Another commonly seen disaster is the mending with metal
screws and plates, they always rust and iron gets inside the stone

If you need a cleaner get Orbus,from a farm store. It is the only
approved one used by museums and societies, as it leaves the least
chemicals. Marble is the biggest challenge, it acts like a sponge and is

sovery soft.

Check with your State Historical Commission , most of them have a
website devoted to the subject or will send a pamplet. Much of their
research comes from people who restore buildings and statues as that is
where the money is. Your local restorer can give you the names of any
epoxy you want to try or where to get the nylon rods or plates needed.
I got a call from someone recently who observed a man who was painting
the inside of each letter of the Confederate Soldiers stones in a
cemetery
with gold metalic paint. I thought I had seen everything!
The commission still
has no idea of how to remove it as it has metal in it and it is aborbed
already by the marble. They may never be cleaned from that.

I collect interesting tombstones and recently saw some of tombstones
that has fake jewels epoxied onto the cement, very unique!

Susan in Texas

*****************

I forgot to add the epoxy shielding the top of the stones acts like
glass in the heat, the mosisture comes up from the ground, though
pourous marble and cement and can't get out through the top , the sun
heats the stuff into steam and cracks it up. Put a piece of glass on a
sidewalk even when it is dry and in the mornings it will be wet from
condensation underneath most days. The chemicals also will collect in
the steam and make the epoxy go foggy after a while or rusty looking if
the ground around it has iron in it.

Susan

******************

To all: I know you mean well but this is not an accepted method of
preservation of gravestones and will cause the stones to deteriorate.
The
stone needs to "breathe". The stone absorbs moisture from the ground
and
it has no way to evaporate if the stone is sealed. This leads to the
stone
crumbling. The chemicals in the sealer could also interact with the
materials in the stone. Please read the following Do's and Don'ts of
cemetery repair at:
http://members.aol.com/ctgravenet/dosdonts.htm#TOP

Susan

****************

Dear Jane,

Several people have sent me copies of the "new idea" you are sharing on
the Internet. Please consider
contacting those you have dispersed this message to and letting them
know that it is an extremely
damaging and irreversible technique and should never be done to any
stone.

While the stones that you saw may have "looked" fine, it is the result
over time that counts. Similar
techniques have been tried in the past with the same results; the
technique will greatly hasten the
deterioration of the stone, and it and the acrylic top coat will form a
thick film of mildew and/or algae.

Please understand that marble is a highly porous stone. Lying flat on
the ground, it will be wicking up
moisture from the soil. With the acrylic top coat preventing the normal
respiration, coupled with the
extreme heat that will be generated on sunny days, much like a
greenhouse, the imprisoned gravestone
will "cook" in a moisture-laden environment. Furthermore, the stone
will become highly impregnated
with water, leaving it at much greater risk for internal disintegration
during freeze/thaw cycles over the
winter.

Additionally, as I said in reply to one of the Rootsweb lists in which
your note appeared, anyone caught
doing this type of gravestone desecration is liable, depending on the
laws of that state, for civil and/or
criminal prosecution.

I realize that your intentions in sharing this information were
honorable and applaud your willingness to
pass on what you thought was a good idea. In the future, please contact
the experts at the Association
for Gravestone Studies () before acting on
your impulse to help. I have often
told my readers that more damage is done in cemeteries by well-meaning
preservationists using
improper techniques (household bleach, wire brushes, power washers, flat
concrete encasements, etc.)
than by vandals. The best tool to preserve our cemeteries is proper
education. The source is out there
and free to anyone.

Again, thank you for caring,

Jeanne Robinson, Executive Director
Oregon Historic Cemeteries Association, Inc.
PO Box 802
Boring, OR 97009]
(503) 658-4255 - Fax (503) 658-3111

www.oregoncemeteries.org

Preserving the Past for the Future

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• [Abbeville] Update Tombstone protection by Jane Foley <>