Painting lettering on a headstone - any tips

TigerTim

Both grandparents headstones need the lettering painting. One is black marble & the other is grey stone. The lettering was white on both. Obviously they will both need cleaning first but after that, has anyone painted the letters. Can I use ordinary household gloss white. I have seen some headstones where a large area including the letters is painted over. I presume the area other than the letters is sanded/cleaned once the paint had dried. Would it be better to use a small brush & do it neatly, cleaning off any mistakes after the paint is dry. Has anyone done this?.

T.

Buford T Justice

You'll have trouble removing oil based paint if it goes where its not supposed to be.

Why not get in touch with a monumental sculptor and see what they say?

michael999999

Id say if you used a thin brush from a childs painting kits you might be able to do it yourself. You can also get sign writing brushes but they take a bit of getting used to.

Id say leave it dry for a few days, and then use a stanley blade on the flat over the letters to clean off any excess paint or where you have gone outside the edges. Good luck!

CarrickMcJoe

Use a pencil brush with gloss paint and if you go over the edge sand it off with wet and dry sandpaper the next day.

mad m

Why don't you get wide masking tape, put over old letters, get sharp blade and cut around old letters and wittle the cuts out.....Then go over with with gloss paint or ask a marble place what type of paint they use...

Make sure though that you try and do it in one day and a dry day at that, once masking tape gets wet or left on for a few days its a pig to remove. You can get a low tack masking tape also. Before doing your painting, get a seem roller and run it over masking tape so that gloss paint doesnt creep inside.

pissed

Have recently had two headstones done professionally. One was black marble and the other a white'ish stone . He masked off the stone and cut around the letters with a sharp knife. The cost for the black one was €80 and the white one worked out at €100. The white one was more expensive as he had to reseat the stone as it had come loose on its base and he also blasted it clean. Worth paying for if you can afford it in these times.

stoneill

I had to do this a few years back and used the method carrickmcjoe suggested.
Worked a treat - I used Airfix black paint.

TigerTim

Thanks to all who replied. Think I will go with the pencil brush. Masking off the letters is a good idea but don't think I'd have the patience for it in a cold graveyard!.

Thanks,

T.