Mount Sinai’s Tablet Care
How to Care for Your Loved One’s Memorial Tablet
Proper care and maintenance of your memorial tablet ensures it remains a beautiful, lasting tribute to your loved one’s memory. Understanding the specific care requirements for different materials helps preserve the tablet’s appearance and extends its lifespan for generations to come.
California law requires us to use reclaimed water for our sprinkler system, which causes water spots to appear due to the calcium and other minerals present in the water. Regular cleaning helps prevent mineral buildup and maintains your tablet’s appearance.
Care Instructions by Material Type
Granite Tablet Care
Best practice: Consistently clean and wipe down the surface of the stone to prevent mineral buildup using distilled water and a clean, soft cloth.
Critical: Never use oil on granite tablets. When oil combines with our reclaimed water, it creates a residue that will stain the tablet and seep into the pores of the stone, causing permanent damage.
Paint warranty: We guarantee the paint for 1 year. We use California regulated paint, and the longevity of the paint depends on the regulated materials we must use, not our workmanship quality.
Bronze Tablet Care
Best practice: Consistently clean and descale any water deposits using distilled bottled water and a microfiber towel.
Oil guidelines: If oil must be applied to bronze, it must be mineral oil with no solvents, otherwise it will destroy the topcoat and paint. However, we do not recommend using oil because when it combines with reclaimed water, it creates residue that can stain the surface.
Regular maintenance: Focus on preventing water scale buildup through consistent cleaning with appropriate materials.
Photo Tile Care
Best practice: Consistently clean and wipe down the surface of the ceramic photo tile to prevent water scale buildup using distilled water.
Protective placement: Our policy is to place photo tiles lower than the granite surface to protect them from maintenance equipment damage.
Lifetime warranty: We provide a lifetime warranty on photo tiles when purchased through Mount Sinai Memorial Parks.
Professional Care Makes the Difference
Our expert maintenance team understands the unique requirements of each material and provides comprehensive care to keep your memorial tablet pristine.
Professional Maintenance Programs
Understanding Endowment Care
Many families ask about endowment care and whether it covers memorial tablet maintenance. Endowment care is a fund that provides for the general upkeep and beautification of the cemetery grounds, including landscaping, roadway maintenance, and overall property care. This ensures our memorial parks remain beautiful, peaceful places for families to visit.
However, endowment care does not include individual memorial tablet cleaning, maintenance, or restoration. These specialized services require specific expertise and materials for each tablet type, which is why we offer dedicated maintenance programs designed specifically for memorial care.
We offer comprehensive annual maintenance programs designed specifically for each material type, providing expert care and peace of mind.
Granite Tablet Annual Program
Includes 12 monthly service visits:
- Wash the tablet thoroughly
- Descale water deposits
- Clean flower vases (if applicable)
- Align the tablet if needed
- Place Jerusalem stones
- Email photo of cleaned tablet each month
- Includes 1 re-highlight service (regular price $110)
This program helps maintain pristine condition and prevents long-term damage from mineral deposits.
Bronze Tablet Annual Program
Includes 12 monthly service visits:
- Wash the tablet thoroughly
- Descale water deposits
- Clean flower vases (if applicable)
- Align the tablet if needed
- Place Jerusalem stones
- Email photo of cleaned tablet each month
Note: Does not include re-finishing, but provides excellent preventative care to maintain tablet condition. Speak with our representative about potential discounts on re-finishing services when you purchase a maintenance program.
Restoration Services
When your memorial tablet needs more than routine maintenance, our restoration services can return it to its original beauty and clarity.
Granite Re-Highlight Service
Our re-highlighting service restores the crisp, clear appearance of text and designs on granite tablets, bringing back the original contrast and readability that time and weather may have diminished.
Included free with annual maintenance program
Bronze Complete Re-Finishing
Complete restoration service that returns bronze tablets to like-new condition through our comprehensive workshop process.
Decoration Policy & Tablet Protection
Important: Decoration Guidelines
Rocks placed on tablets will cause damage to your tablet. Please only use the Jerusalem stones that are provided at no cost by Mount Sinai.
Rocks can also damage nearby tablets, affecting other families’ memorials.
Our Damage Responsibility Policy
Mount Sinai is responsible for: Damage caused directly by our maintenance equipment
Families are responsible for: Any objects they place on or near tablets, including rocks and decorative items. Any item other than Jerusalem stones has the potential to damage the tablet.
Evaluation service: We will always evaluate your tablet upon request to determine if it shows normal signs of wear from natural elements versus preventable damage.
To protect your loved one’s memorial and surrounding tablets, we recommend following our decoration guidelines and using only approved memorial items. Contact our office for specific decoration policy details.
Professional Tablet Care Services
Protect your investment and honor your loved one’s memory with our professional maintenance and restoration services.
Phone: (323) 469-6000
Email: info@mountsinaiparks.org