Monument Cleaning

[Don M. 14]

I'm not sure where to post this, so I will post this here.

My wife and I have been debating on pricing for monument cleaning. I went out and cleaned her dad's concrete monument the other day with some house wash mix and a soft bristle brush. It was just your typical vertical monument (about 3' wide and 2' high). Rinsed it off with 15 gallons of water and wiped it down. All in all it took me almost an hour. She says I would not be able to get anything over 25-30 dollars a monument. I think she is crazy. I dont see why I couldnt get at least $50 dollars a monument. Is anyone else doing this right now?

Thanks for your help

Don M.

[Jeff Robison 14]

I have thought about this area of business(have not pursued it yet) I cannot see why it would take close to an hour (except you probably gave it extra special attention considering it was family. Did the housewash mix clean it good? I have heard of specialty cleaners, but never used them.

Jeff Robison

Titan Exterior

678-360-2518

[Don M. 14]

From the research I have done there is specialty cleaners for granite, and from what I understand you have to be careful with certain polished surfaces. I just did a web search on monument cleaning and found out very good info.

Probably the reason why it took close to an hour was I used a lot of elbow grease. I dont have a tank for my set up yet so I just hauled water in 5 gallon buckets in my truck. I am looking into getting a tank set up.

[Doug Dahlke 114]

Okay, let me resurrect this thread. I received a call today from a church that I have recently quoted cleaning. They want me to quote cleaning the cemmetary next to the church. I need to get back out there for the specifics but can anyone give any idea how to price this thing? If I remember correctly the cemmetary is not that big. There are some very old monuments there, the earliest dating to 1835. I certainly don't want to damage anything. Any help / ideas would be appreciated.

[Hambone 14]

You can use a restorative soap like SafeRestore from EcoChem. This cleaner with a cold water pressure washer would take you less than ten minutes.

[Doug Dahlke 114]

I went to look at this job yesterday. I counted somewhere between 550 and 600 markers in various sizes. I think I will use Safe Restore if I get the job. I will e-mail EcoChem some photos tomorrow to get an idea of how long on average it will take to clean one marker and price the job accordingly. Some of these stones have 170 years of dirt on them and can't even be read. Before I left there I had to spend a few minutes just looking around. There was one guy buried there who fought in the Revolutionary War. A lot of Civil War graves and some just marked with a block of stone and nothing else. A lot of history there.

[Freshlook 14]

Personally I would steer clear of using a PW on any monument, it's easy to break and not worth the money to have to replace it. Seriously look into getting a soda blaster. It's very effective in removing and renewing surfaces WITHOUT DAMAGING the underlying suface. I'm in the process of working with a dealer to pick one up at a reasonable price. It's also the same process that the statue of liberty was renovated with. Hit glass with it.. NOTHING HAPPENS, Also being gentle enough to strip a COKE can without damaging the can itself.. I was impressed. I've ran one of these machines and was marveling at it's effectivness and softness.

Some historical preservers have a conflict with this process as it is an abbrasive cleaning and thought to accelerate growth of moss and mold. and yes.. a very very small amount of the masonry will be affected.. but I'm not going to run the risk of damaging one or even worse

They make small blasters which hold less medium and you should be able to pick one up for around 300.. only thing is they require a great deal of CFM's so your going to need a good Air Compressor to use it effectively. However I'm aware they make kits for power washers to run the process. I'm quite skeptical thou.. but if this is for family and a 1 time deal.. hey.. why not.. but if it's something your looking at offering as a service.. I would go ahead and purchase a small unit

[Doug Dahlke 114]

I hear you Greg. I don't plan on using my power washer for anything but rinsing and I'll use a chem tip for that. I will probably brush the cleaner on or use a pump up sprayer and rinse with the power washer.

[Christopher 102]

If I were going to do that many monuments, I would look into a portable shurflo or delavan rig or the Deckster. That is a lot of pumping for all those monuments. You can rig up the sprayer to a hand cart and spray right out of the 5 gallon pail. You could even have an extra hand cart with 5 gallon pails of water if you wanted to rinse with the same equipment instead of using your pressure washer and risk dragging the hose around with all those flowers and monuments. I was thinking the same thing a while back but I was afraid of burning the grass with the chems. I would think that low pressure with a housewash might do the trick just let it dwell long enough. Anybody else doing this?

[Doug Dahlke 114]

If I can figure out how to change the file size on my pictures I'll post some of this project. The place has been somewhat neglected and killing grass won't be much of an issue. The thought of buying a Deckster or Bleach Bandit for this has crossed my mind. At this point in my business I'm trying to get money into the bank so I make due with what I have as much as possible.

[kevinw 14]

A little advice...if you take this work, make sure you disclaim any damage period. You're working on irreplaceable stones, and anything that damages them will come back on you. Be careful using Eco's products...they turn some surfaces darker. Lastly, do not touch anything that is marble...soft stone that will damage easily. Many of the older stones where you'll notice the engraving is gone is marble...any pressure will only make it worse.

Take a long look at the liability on this one before you dive in.

kevinw