Timeless Grave Care, LLC
Preserving memories in Mid-Michigan
We at Timeless Grave Care are experienced in the upkeep of grave sites including the deep cleaning of markers and monuments. We are here to assist you in caring for the final resting places of your family and friends.
We understand that most people have a desire to care for their loved one's gravesites. Unfortunately, for most people, obstacles like distance, time, and lack of "know-how" prevent them from regularly or properly maintaining the cemetery plots of their dearly departed.
Timeless Grave Care is dedicated to assisting people like you who wish to keep their loved one's burial place in good order. We take pride in meeting your needs and expectations and we do it at a reasonable cost.
Timeless Grave Care uses cleaning methods which do no harm to gravesites or monuments. We use the same non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning agent endorsed by the NCA (National Cemetery Administration) for use in America's National Cemeteries.
We understand the comfort that our customers feel when they know that the resting places of their loved ones are maintained by skilled and caring hands.
We expect that we will not only gain the trust of our customers through our excellent work but also please them with our low prices. Cemetery visits should provide closure, peace, and comfort. Our services give our clients assurance that during their next cemetery visit, they will find their loved one's gravesite very well-kept.
Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Michael Clapp, the owner of Timeless Grave Care. Our company is a small, family business that my wife and I started this year. We actually began this journey long ago with the tending of our loved-one's gravesites. When we would visit the cemeteries, we would notice overgrown and untended graves. It seemed to us that those graves should be cleaned up, so we started "adopting" graves to clean. We have been caring for neglected graves and monuments as a hobby for the past 20 years and know the best ways to clean and maintain graves. Nothing pleases us more than to see once-stained headstones clean again and overgrown gravesites looking bright and tidy.
We at Timeless Grave Care are happy to provide you the highest level of service in the care of gravesites and the cleaning of monuments – that is our specialty. Our work is limited to that realm. We do not repair, raise, or level grave markers or monuments. For those needs, we recommend that our customers talk to the management or caretaker of their cemetery. There are a few companies and volunteer groups which specialize in such work and the internet or cemetery management can be helpful in obtaining that information.
Grave maintenance is not the only service we provide. As cemetery rules permit, Timeless Grave Care will place flowers, ornaments, wreaths, grave blankets, veteran markers and flags on a grave for a modest fee. Please see "Special Requests" on our Shopping page for details. To avoid errors regarding decorations, we prefer the customer purchase the item and have it delivered to us for placement. Please note that there is a minimum fee of $25.00 for any special request - some special requests may require a higher fee. Certain cemeteries allow for the planting of flowers and the use of mulch at gravesites – Timeless Grave Care can provide those services as well.
Please contact us if you have a special request not specifically listed. We will do our best to meet your needs!
Currently, Timeless Grave Care operates in the Owosso-Corunna area in the middle of Shiawassee County, Michigan. We charge no mileage for services performed within Shiawassee County. We plan to expand our coverage area in the future.
In the meantime, we will provide services outside of the county within a 20-mile radius of Owosso (Flint Township, Locke Township, Bath Township, St. Johns & St. Charles). A mileage fee of $1.00 per mile (round trip from the county line) will apply to all services performed outside of the county. The shaded area on the map shows the current limits to our service area.
Service Area
Timeless Grave Care maintains gravesites during all four seasons with summer being our busiest time. We do not perform the deep cleaning of markers during cold weather. The beginning and end of our full-service, deep-cleaning season is dependent upon the weather. We wait until after the last frost of spring to start our deep cleaning of markers. We end our deep cleaning season after the first frost of fall. We do this to avoid unnecessarily introducing liquids (cleaning solutions & water) on and into the stone - this protects the stone from weather-related damage. If a liquid freezes within the surface of the stone, damage to the stone can occur - please read about freeze-thaw weathering below.
Freeze-thaw weathering: Believe it or not, natural stone is porous and often has micro fissures (cracks) within the stone. Monuments and grave markers, made from marble, granite, limestone, slate, and sandstone, are no exception. The nature of those stones is no different than any other – they inherently have porous compositions and most times, miniscule micro fissures. Over time, tiny amounts of water infiltrate the stone. This presents a problem to monuments placed in northern states like Michigan, where the temperature dips below 32 degrees Fahrenheit for several months. Freeze-thaw weathering (also known as frost-weathering) is a result of the expansion of water which has infiltrated the stone. When the water freezes into ice, it expands within the pores and micro-fissures. After a period of years, the freeze-thaw cycles enlarge the micro fissures, widening the cracks and permitting more moisture from rain or melting snow to enter into the stone. Eventually, the cracks will cause fracturing of the stone. By performing our deep cleaning only during times of warmer weather (day and night temperatures consistently over 40 degrees) Timeless Grave Care avoids causing further freeze-thaw damage to monuments. By withholding our deep cleaning until optimal weather, we protect your loved-one's monuments and grave markers from freeze-thaw weathering.
During times of colder weather, when our deep cleaning service is not available, the $30 Brush-up Service would be appropriate. The Brush-up service includes, among other things, carefully detailing the marker/monument with soft brushes to remove dust, debris and early biological growth like mold and lichen. Please go to our Shopping page for more details on the Brush-up Service.
It must be noted that there are other threats that can negatively affect the beauty and well-being of grave markers and monuments. Please continue on to the next section.
Multiple other threats: Acid rain can be a problem for grave markers; in particular, those made of limestone and marble. Chemicals often found in rain can initiate weathering through chemical reactions with the calcium carbonate contained in the limestone and marble. Acid rain damages the surfaces of stones, causing once-smooth surfaces to become pitted. Pitting allows dirt and other surface pollution to adhere to the stone. These contaminants can cause more damage and discoloration to the stone. The surface erosion brought about by acid rain also erodes the lettering and artistic work of the stone, making those features harder to see. Marble, having a more dense makeup than limestone, resists damage from acid rain slightly better. Acid rain weathering of monuments can be mitigated with regular deep cleaning.
Bird droppings, moss, lichens, other plants, and mold are unsightly and will cause further damage and/or staining to monuments and grave markers. Plant roots can grow between the stone and its base, or even in existing cracks in the stone. Root growth can eventually lift the stone from its base or even fracture the stone. Roots and lichens also release acid-like chemicals which can affect the stone’s integrity and appearance.
Lastly, improper cleaning methods can cause erosion and damage to markers and monuments. The use of wire brushes, power tools and power washers is, unfortunately, all too common and can be extremely damaging to grave markers and monuments. Additionally, the use of harsh and caustic cleaners like bleach, ammonia, and common household surface sprays can, over time, cause irreversible damage to the stone. Sometimes, the initial appearance of a stone cleaned with such practices can be impressive, but, if one looks carefully, they will see surface damage and likely notice eventual discoloration or degradation of the stone.
You can count on us! Timeless Grave Care does not use cleaning solutions or tools which cause damage to monuments. We never use power tools, pressure washers, or metal hand tools in carrying out our cleaning of monuments and markers. Timeless Grave Care’s techniques of cleaning and maintaining gravesites are time-tested and do absolutely no harm to the sites or monuments. Our goal is to properly clean, maintain, and preserve monuments and gravesites. We do this by taking a little extra time and effort on each job that we do because the long-term results for our customers, and the memories of their loved ones, are worth it.
To Our Potential Customers:
Please take a look at our services listed below. Let us know how we can best help you. If you have a need that is not addressed by the services which we currently provide, please contact us. We will do our very best to meet your needs!
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Timeless Grave Care
Please note: As practical, in some photos on this website, we have obscured the names on grave markers to protect privacy.
Payments
For your convenience, we accept cash, local personal checks, and debit or credit through PayPal.