Neither. The $99 per stone is the price of the completed cleaning, paid once. It covers the trip to your cemetery, the full biological cleaning of the stone, trimming and edging around the base and its perimeter, and before-and-after photos emailed the same day with your receipt. Nothing is added for travel in any of Michigan's 83 counties, there is no hourly rate, no sales tax, and no second invoice after the crew leaves.

The $99 is taken the same way everywhere in the state: at secure Stripe checkout, when you choose your date. There is no county where you are asked to wait for a route to fill before you can book, and no invoice afterward. Cleaning several stones is the same $99 each, with the quantity chosen at checkout; more than five is quoted directly so the group can be routed together.

$99 per stone, non-taxable, and that is the finished job rather than a booking charge. It is the same price in all 83 Michigan counties, with no travel surcharge, so a stone in the Upper Peninsula costs exactly what a stone in Genesee County costs. The way that price stays honest at the far end of the state is that we plan a route around your stone rather than making a special trip for it: outside the weekly and regional routes you pay the same $99 per stone at checkout, and that payment books the visit within 2 to 4 weeks instead of putting you on a waiting list. Quantity is chosen at secure Stripe checkout. More than five stones is quoted directly so the whole group can be routed together.

Yes. For every stone we are paid to clean, we clean one veteran’s headstone in that same cemetery free of charge, on the same visit. It is one for one. Nobody is billed for it — not you, not the veteran’s family — and it is not funded by a surcharge hidden in your price. Your total is still $99 per stone.

It works because the trip is the expensive part of this job, and your booking has already paid for it. Once we are at the cemetery with the solution mixed and the brushes out, honoring a second stone costs us time rather than another drive across Michigan. Veterans’ stones get the identical method yours does: cemetery-approved biological cleaners, water, and soft brushes, with no bleach, no acids, and no pressure washing — the same restriction the VA places on the government-furnished markers it still owns. If every veteran’s stone in that cemetery is already cared for, the cleaning carries forward to the next cemetery we visit.

All 83. Genesee, Lapeer, and Oakland counties are on the weekly route, so you pick your own date. Nearby counties run on a regional route, usually one to three weeks out. Everywhere else in the state is on our statewide route: you book and pay the same $99 per stone at checkout, and we plan a route out to you. The usual window is 2 to 4 weeks anywhere in Michigan, the Upper Peninsula included, and we call with the arrival window before the crew travels.

Booking from a county that is not on the weekly route is encouraged, not discouraged: your stone is what starts a route, and several stones in one area let us group the trip. You are not waiting on anyone else to book — your own payment is what puts the trip on the calendar — and it is a full refund any time before we travel. If you need a firm date sooner than 2 to 4 weeks, call and we will quote it over the phone.

Online, at any hour. Choose your county and cemetery, pick the weekday you would like us there, and pay the $99 per stone through secure Stripe checkout. Your date goes on the schedule as soon as the payment settles, and we confirm the arrival window with you by phone or email before the visit. It is the same in a statewide-route county — you pay at checkout like everywhere else, and that visit falls within 2 to 4 weeks.

We travel Monday through Friday and agree the arrival window with you rather than asking you to commit to an hour at booking. You choose the date at checkout and we confirm the window by phone or email once that day's route is set. Booking by the day is deliberate: one crew working one stop at a time cannot promise a nine-to-ten on a stone two hours away, and it means a cleaning is never turned away because a single hour was already spoken for.

Biological cleaners only, applied with water and soft brushes — the gentle, cemetery-approved approach used in monument conservation. No bleach, no acids, no pressure washing, and no wire brushes, all of which etch and permanently damage stone, especially older marble. The cleaner keeps working for weeks afterward, so a heavily lichened stone often keeps lightening after the crew leaves.

Every cleaning also includes trimming and edging around the base and cleaning the base perimeter, plus before and after photos emailed the same day with the receipt.

Starting prices: $400 for a flat marker, $600 for a bevel, $1,250 for a slant, $1,500 for an upright, $3,000 for a bench, and $6,500 for a family or estate monument. Custom laser etching starts at $400 and is done in-house on Jet Black granite; other granite colors are sandblasted instead. Consultations are free, friendly, and focused on helping you choose the right memorial.

Yes. Custom shapes are special orders cut in-house rather than ordered from a catalog: hearts, crosses, angels and wings, open books and bibles, obelisks and columns, trees and rustic rock-pitch, children's shapes, hobby silhouettes, and sculpted relief work. A shape that is not on that list is still worth asking about — families bring photos and sketches, and we draw it from there.

Once the special order is placed, we review the drawing and cemetery requirements with the family. Production begins after the family approves the final direction. Special orders are quoted per project, since cost depends on stone color, size, and how much cutting and carving the outline needs, and custom shapes need cemetery approval on height, footprint, and color before fabrication.

Yes. We work with many cemeteries across Michigan, from large memorial parks to small local and township cemeteries, so we already know many of their monument rules. We still confirm the exact section requirements before production and contact the cemetery directly when anything needs clarification.

We can also help coordinate the required foundation with the cemetery. Cemetery-set foundation or permit fees remain separate unless your quote specifically says they are included.

Cleaning needs above-freezing temperatures and running water, so the practical season runs roughly April into November. Most stones look their best on a two to four year cleaning cycle, and shaded, tree-covered sections grow biological film faster than open sunny ones.