How long does headstone restoration take?

Most cleaning and re-highlighting is finished in a single visit. Work that involves ordering a part, such as a ceramic portrait, depends on manufacturing, and we tell you the timing in the quote rather than after you have booked.

Three steps to a headstone restoration quote: find the marker, photograph it with your phone, and receive a quote by email

Glory Roses · No Stone Forgotten

Free Headstone Restoration Quote

Tell us which cemetery, send a photo of the marker, and we will come back to you with a price. There is no charge for the quote and no obligation to book.

✓ Free, with no obligation ✓ We come to the gravesite ✓ Five counties across Southern California

Would rather talk it through? Call or text 818‑639‑3993 — seven days a week.

What happens after you send the form

Step oneWe read it and look at your photo. If something is unclear — the size of the marker, how far gone the lettering is — we will text you rather than guess.
Step twoYou get a price for the work, itemised, so you can see what each part costs and drop anything you would rather leave.
Step threeIf you go ahead, we agree a date and do the work at the gravesite. You do not need to be there, and we send photographs afterwards.

What to send us

A quote is only as good as what we can see. Four things make it accurate the first time:

A photograph of the whole marker, taken straight on in daylight. If the lettering is what is bothering you, add a close-up of it.
The cemetery name, and the section or plot number if you have it. Cemeteries differ in what they allow and what they charge for access, and that affects the price.
What is wrong in your words. “You cannot read the dates any more” tells us more than a category on a form does.
Anything with a date on it — an anniversary, a birthday, a family visit you are working towards.

Not sure the photo is good enough? Send it anyway. We would rather tell you it is fine than have you put this off.

What a restoration quote can cover

Most markers need more than one thing done, and we quote them together so you are not paying for two visits. Any of these can go in your quote:

Headstone re-highlighting — repainting worn lettering so it reads again
Cleaning — lifting lichen, hard water and years of soil from granite or marble
Bronze re-gold and seal — for plaques gone dull, green or chalky
On-site bronze restoration — heavier work done at the grave, without removing the plaque
Laser etching restoration — bringing a faded etched portrait or scene back
Ceramic picture installation and replacement — fitting a new porcelain portrait, or replacing one that has cracked or come away

If the marker has no photograph yet and you would like one, you can design a ceramic portrait online and see it on the stone before you order. Ask for it in the same quote and we will fit it on the same visit.

Where we work

Glory Roses works at gravesites across Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. If your cemetery is in one of those, we can almost certainly get to it — see the full list of cemeteries we serve. If it is not on the list, ask anyway; the list is not exhaustive.

What it costs

The quote itself is free, and asking for one does not commit you to anything. What the work costs depends on things we can only judge from the marker: how large it is, how much lettering there is, whether it is granite, marble or bronze, how far the surface has gone, and what the cemetery requires of anyone working on site.

That is why we ask for a photograph rather than publishing a flat rate. A number quoted blind is a number that changes later, and nobody wants that conversation twice.

Common questions

Is the quote really free?

Yes. There is no charge for the quote and no obligation to book the work. If the price is not right for you, that is a perfectly good answer.

Do I have to be at the cemetery?

No. Almost all of our work is done without the family present. We send photographs when it is finished so you can see the marker before your next visit.

Do I need the cemetery’s permission?

It depends on the cemetery. Many let the family authorise work on their own marker; some ask for a form first, and a few have their own rules about what may be used on the stone. Tell us which cemetery it is and we will tell you what they need.

How long does the work take?

Most cleaning and re-highlighting is finished in a single visit. Work that involves ordering a part — a ceramic portrait, for instance — depends on manufacturing, and we will tell you the timing in the quote rather than after you have booked.

Can a very old or badly damaged headstone still be restored?

Usually, yes, though there is a point past which cleaning does more harm than good — badly weathered marble in particular. We will say so plainly if that is what your photograph shows. We would rather turn work down than damage a marker.

Can you restore a bronze plaque as well as a granite headstone?

Yes. Bronze is a different job from stone — it is re-golded and sealed rather than painted — and we do both, on site.

What if I do not know which cemetery my relative is in?

Send us the name and roughly where they were buried and we will help you find it. It happens more often than you would think, particularly with older family graves.