Straightening up stones

Here is some work I did at Clinton Garfield Cemetery near Rolfe in 1995.

 ( Before top left )   Tipping 3 piece upright on Smith Lot. 

( Before bottom left )  Side view tipping Smith with loose marker by foundation

 ( After top right )  Straightened 3 piece upright and reset loose marker in cement

( After bottom left )  3 reset and cleaned stones in line on Smith Lot

 ( Before top left )  Small upright on Smith lot, covered with lichen moss. 

 ( After top right ) Powerwashed all stones,  straightened upright 3 piece,  reset loose upright in a small cement footing.

 ( Bottom left )  My powerwasher.

( Bottom right Leveling )  A good picture of the technique I used to level large and tall tombstones.   First dig about a six inch trench along the two lowest sides of the sunken base.   Dig down until you can see the seam which divides the base from whatever happens to be underneath it.  ( Could be cement, crushed rock, sand, bricks, field rocks, or some combination of those materials )   Use a 4' leveling bar leveraging off a piece of wood to raise the low side of the stone.  While raised have a helper shovel in some pea rock or crushed limestone underneath.   See how it sits, check for level both ways.   Add more rock until you are level.  Then fill in the trench with the dirt you removed.

DISCLAIMER:  It is at this point that I must caution you to not let the upright piece wobble or God forbid, fall on you....but if it does please have your cell phone on you to call for help...( if you are still alive )...So try some smaller uprights before you attempt one the size of Smith.