My missus has just mentioned that my Mum has requested my assistace soon re taking her to her Mum, Dad and Brothers grave and cleaning the loose stones that sit on the grave (she thinks they were green at one time).
I think her intention is to shovel the stones into a bag(s), take them home to clean (not sure how she intends doing the 'cleaning' yet).
So, before we do all that, is there anything we should consider .. like, are there any chemicals that could be sprayed on, are we allowed to do such ourselves, would they mind us turning up with my pressure washer etc etc ;-)
It's that roundish plastic pod from the supermarket used to boost dishwashers cleaning power. I have found it makes the cheapest miracle cleaner for just about any job that you could mentiom. In operation it emulates a neat bleach solution without the nasty bits.
Dump some in a bucket of warm water and clean the chippings in the bucket
You could do it there, but I am sure if some busybody saw you they'd invoke the Health and Safety at Work Act and the CoSHH regulations, so don't make it too obvious! Also neutralise the bleach with water when you've finished. It may take an hour for full effect, though probably an improvement will be seen in less time than that.
My experience is based on cleaning up some local limestone I had lying around in my garden as edging: I wanted to use it to build a stone wall, and found that although mud would come off with water and a good soaking and bit of a scrub, the general patina of ages wouldn't budge, it being mainly a mixture of surface moulds ( not lichen ). Neat bleach seems to annihalate this stuff and bring the underlying colour back. As an aside, I got the same effect accidentally when a windfall apple came to rest on one of the aforesaid edging stones: when I removed it to compost it, the stone underneath was restored to full colour.
I expect that was due to fruit acids. I expect tomato juice, HP sauce or allsorts might work, but at least with bleach it's easy to wash off afterwards. Don't dilute the bleach, use the thick stuff, wear gloves, don't get any on your clothes and have sufficient water with you to clean up afterwards.
Nice to see someone taking care of the appearance of their relatives' grave.
I thought I'd replied to you this morning fella but I can't see it now?
Good thought .. but to me it sounds like putting plasterboard OVER (well under) an old lathe and plaster ceiling ? (That's Virgos for ya)
I don't suppose it would bother Mum (all for saving a couple of quid) .. as long as it doesn't look out of place (and broken glass might be handy if the chavs start mucking about in the graveyard and fall into it) ;-)
I was actually thinking that the cost of a bag of chippings can be amortised over future additional residents. Of course, if the lair's full you'll be saving your pennies for a new plot. (That's a Sagittarius living in Scotland for you.)
Nowadays (grave robbing having fallen in popularity, at least south of the border, although the Scottish neds still like the occasional bit of defiling a sepulchre[1]) they're probably centralised and you have to go through the Council call-centre and ask for the Department of Memorial Landscaping and Bereavement Services or whatever it's called this month.
My local graveyard has an administration building at one entrance. If you haven't got one of those, probably you would need to talk to the local Council.
I have to admit I don't know the setup there or even where the grave is? I loved my Grandma (I used to call my Grandma my 'step Grandma' .. as she used to wave us off from her front step ) my Grandad (although I didn't know him very well / long) and my Uncle (who was probably more of a 'Father' to me than my own).
I think I may have gone to the funerals of the grandparents (I was quite young) but not my Uncle. I wanted to remember him as he was before he went into hospital with cancer and by not going to the funeral sort of allows me to think he's 'still there' (if you know what I mean).
I hope helping my Mum 'sort' the grave isn't going to open up any 'issues' .. or too many deeper thoughts .. (I'm aiming to just treat it as 'helping Mum clean some gravel')?
I just wonder if it's one of those questions you possibly don't want to ask .. like when I asked them if it was ok to dump a load of chemical waste in a ditch (what a ferfuffle that was!) ;-)
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