Cleaning, engraving restoration, full restoration — what the difference actually is

People call asking for a “refurbishment”, “restoration” or “to make it look brand new”. In practice that covers three different jobs. It’s worth understanding what you’re really asking for — it saves money and prevents disappointment.

Cleaning

This is surface work. We remove dust, soot, algae, lichen, general grime. If the engraving is in good shape, the stone will genuinely look new again afterwards. If the gold has already fallen out of the letters, cleaning won’t bring it back — it will just expose the loss more clearly.

Engraving restoration

Now we go into the letters themselves. We clean the grooves, strip off old gold flakes or peeling paint, and refill — usually with gold leaf (more durable) or quality paint. It’s delicate work; you need a steady hand and somewhere out of strong wind, otherwise the paint ends up where it shouldn’t.

Full restoration

That’s a different conversation. We’re talking about a structural issue: a crack that needs filling, a loose stone, a broken corner, slabs that have shifted. Sometimes a piece has to come off, be cleaned on a table and re-bonded with stone-specific adhesive. That’s a job of days, not hours.

How do you know what you need?

My rule of thumb: if the stone is just dirty — cleaning is enough. If the letters are still visible but pale — add engraving restoration. If there’s a crack, a shifted slab or a chip — don’t touch it, send us a photo and we decide together.

In reality, most of our jobs are cleaning + engraving restoration together. That combination gives the feeling of “everything looks renewed” at a sensible cost.