What does Annual Memorial Care cost?

There is no list price, because a care plan depends on how many memorials there are, what condition they are in, which cemetery they sit in, and how often you want them visited. Send the details and we quote the plan. A one-off cleaning is $80 per stone and is priced on the booking page.

Am I signing up for an automatic yearly payment?

No. Nothing is charged from the care request form and no recurring payment is set up. If you tell us you are interested in yearly renewal we contact you before each season rather than billing you for one, and you can stop at any time.

How often is a memorial cleaned under a care plan?

Once a year suits most granite memorials. Marble, limestone, and sandstone, heavily shaded lots, and stones under trees often do better with more than one visit. We say which we think applies after seeing the memorial.

Does winter weather affect a care visit in Michigan?

Yes. Cleaning needs above-freezing temperatures and running water, so Michigan care visits are scheduled across the open season and may be weather-limited in winter. A memorial on a care plan keeps its place and is visited as soon as conditions allow.

Memorial care & retention

A memorial cleaned once looks right for a season. Cared for on a schedule, it stays that way.

Lichen, algae, and biological growth come back. They always do — a stone in a Michigan cemetery is outdoors in freeze and thaw, under trees, in shade and rain, and the growth that was scrubbed off in June is starting again the following spring. Annual Memorial Care is the answer for families who would rather not think about it every year: we come back on a schedule, clean the memorial properly, check its condition, and email you the photographs.

This page takes a request, not a payment. Nothing is charged here, and there is no automatic yearly billing.

What ongoing care covers

Recurring biological cleaning, the same gentle method we use on a one-off visit — cleaners approved for memorial stone, soft brushes, and water
A condition check on the stone, the base, and the lettering, so a problem is found while it is still small
Seasonal inspection while we are on that route anyway
Grass and base edging where the cemetery allows it
Before-and-after photographs emailed after every visit
Family plot care — a whole plot in one visit rather than one stone at a time
Several memorials kept on the same schedule, wherever they are in relation to each other
Preservation monitoring on marble, limestone, and sandstone, which are soft and porous and need watching rather than scrubbing

Repairs are a different trade from cleaning. If a care visit finds a stone that has sunk, leaned, cracked, or come off its base, we tell you and quote that work separately — we never fold it into a care plan and we never guess at it from a photograph alone.

Why routine care preserves a stone

Lichen is not dirt sitting on the surface. It anchors into the stone, holds moisture against it, and in freeze and thaw that trapped water does the damage — it opens the grain, lifts the polish, and softens the edges of lettering until a name is harder to read each decade. Granite is tough and forgiving. Marble, limestone, and sandstone are not.

Cleaning a memorial regularly means each cleaning is gentler than the last, because there is less growth to remove. A stone left for twenty years needs the most aggressive treatment it will ever get, at the point it can least afford it. That is the whole argument for care on a schedule: it is easier on the stone, not just easier on the family.

It also means someone is looking. Settling ground, a base starting to separate, a hairline crack taking on water — these are cheap problems early and expensive ones late.

Who this is for

Families who have moved away. A grave in Genesee County and a life in Arizona is the most common reason people call us. You should not have to fly in to keep a stone looking cared for.
Older family members who cannot manage it themselves. The person who used to do this work every spring, and now cannot kneel on wet ground for an hour.
Families with several memorials. Parents, grandparents, an aunt in the next section over. One schedule, one visit, one set of photographs.
Families with a plot. A family plot is one job, not six, and it is cheaper to care for as one.
Veterans' families. Government-issue markers weather in a particular way, and they respond well to regular gentle cleaning. Our One-for-One program cleans a veteran's memorial for every booking we take, whether or not it is yours.
Adult children sharing the responsibility. One care plan, and everybody gets the photographs.

How scheduling actually works

You send the cemetery, the memorials, and how often you would like them visited.
We check the cemetery's rules and look at where it sits against the routes we already drive. Care visits ride along with routes rather than as one-off trips, which is what keeps them affordable.
We come back with what the plan would cover and what it costs, in writing, before anything is agreed.
Once you approve it, each visit is photographed and the photographs are emailed to you. You do not have to ask.

We confirm dates rather than let you pick them. Care visits follow the route, and a route depends on how many memorials are on it — so we tell you the window we are working to and then the date once it is real.

What the Michigan season means for timing

Cleaning a memorial needs above-freezing temperatures and running water. That is a fact of the work rather than a policy, and it shapes the year: the open season runs roughly from spring thaw into late autumn, and Michigan care visits are scheduled across it.

Middle Tennessee winters are milder, which is a real operational difference and why we describe the two markets separately. We are still building routes there — tell us about a Tennessee cemetery and we will be straight with you about what we can reach and when.

Custom monuments are a separate matter: design, laser etching, and production continue year-round. See custom monuments.

Request an Annual Care plan

The more of this you fill in, the less we have to ask. Everything after the cemetery and your name is optional.

Leave this field empty

Cemetery Not on the list? Type it in. Small church, township, and rural grounds are welcome.

Cemetery city or town

State

County if you know it The county is what tells us which route this belongs on.

Cemetery ZIP if you know it

Name on the memorial optional This is how the crew finds the right stone on the day.

How many memorials

Other names in the same plot optional

What should the care plan cover?

Annual cleaning — once yearly Seasonal care — more than one visit a year Family plot care Condition checks and preservation monitoring Photographs after every visit Not sure — help me choose

Tick as many as apply. If none of them is quite right, say so at the bottom.

How often would you like it visited?

Yearly renewal

Yes, I am interested in renewing each year Contact me before each renewal Not sure yet

This is a preference, not a payment. No card is taken here and nothing repeats automatically — renewal is a conversation we start with you.

Who is this for? Cemeteries and organizations with many memorials are quoted as a project — we will point you to the right form.

Organization if applicable

Section optional

Lot optional

Plot or grave optional

How to find it optional Section and lot numbers are ideal, but a landmark works just as well.

Anything else we should know optional

Your name

Email Where the photographs and the written plan go.

Phone optional

Before you send this

This is a request, not a booking. Nothing is charged, and there is no automatic yearly payment — if you tell us you are interested in renewing, we ring you before each season rather than billing you for one.

Or call 586-404-5869

Not quite what you needed?

What do you need?