Graveyard Groomer

[Kowboy]

I was driving back from my sister-in-law's house where I'd completed a free granite seam reset when I passed some guys working on gravestones in the local cemetary. I stopped and introduced myself.



That's John "Walt" Walters on the right and his helper, Randy, under a temporary roof with a piece of gravestone ready for cleaning and reassembly. John, the Graveyard Groomer, http://www.graveyardgroomer.com/index.htm is under contract with the county to do twenty-four hours of gravestone restoration. The county flagged the graves designated for restoration but from what I could see, they could use another three days easily.



This headstone is dry-clamped for fit and will be epoxied without stainless steel reinforcement rods. John doesn't believe in them. He figures if the vandals come back, he wants the stone to break in the same place. If he rods, it breaks in the same place, but the rods don't move and blow out the front of the marker. Makes sense to me. Note the green goo along the top edge of the bottom half, evidence of a previous repair.



This is a new concrete base with the male plug just removed. John will bury this and slide the marker in the slot.



Fresh from a bath and epoxied together, this marker is striking with no patina, expecially compared to the surrounding ones. The ribbon is a marker for the customers. There isn't enough budget to replace the large chip missing on the bottom right, according to John.

John uses Bonstone, Tenax and other products that I recognized. He's a great guy; take the time to meet him if you get the chance.

Kowboy

[Morne]

Vandalizing gravestones is just freaking wrong.

Glad someone has the skillset to fix 'em up!

Cremation and scatterring of the ashes is looking better everyday.

[pleasantguywhopacks]

Vandalizing gravestones is just freaking wrong.

Glad someone has the skillset to fix 'em up!

Cremation and scatterring of the ashes is looking better everyday.

Yep thats my wishes.

If I caught someone vandalizing my family's head stone......

[awalker19]

I know there used to be a local vets group that went around doing this on the weekend.

[Kowboy]

I know there used to be a local vets group that went around doing this on the weekend.

Tony:

John teaches restoration techniques several times a year. He is booked solid for months, so he is hardly worried about competition. The class would teach mostly what not to do, such as rod installation as I mentioned above.

Kowboy

[Sky Pilot]

A blessing on the man and the good work he does!
Like any other task, there's more to it than meets the eye, and more work to it than one realizes until they're engaged in the task!
Gravestone restoration is discussed on a board called Grave Addictions, a discussion forum for historians, artisans and others who have come to appreciate graveyards, gravestones, tombstone symbology &c. as research tools, as expressions of art and of history in solid form.
Link: http://www.graveaddiction.com/

[OhioMoose]

A blessing on the man and the good work he does!
Like any other task, there's more to it than meets the eye, and more work to it than one realizes until they're engaged in the task!
Gravestone restoration is discussed on a board called Grave Addictions, a discussion forum for historians, artisans and others who have come to appreciate graveyards, gravestones, tombstone symbology &c. as research tools, as expressions of art and of history in solid form.
Link: http://www.graveaddiction.com/

Sky Pilot neglects to mention that the GraveAddictions web site is run by a Columbus resident (Beth Santore), who is a member of the Board of Directors of the national organization The Association for Gravestone Studies (https://www.gravestonestudies.org/). AGS has scheduled their 2010 conference in Ohio, at Denison University, Granville, Ohio June 22-27, 2010.