diff --git a/consul/state/tombstone_gc.go b/consul/state/tombstone_gc.go
index 0d530eb69..0ff17cfe4 100644
--- a/consul/state/tombstone_gc.go
+++ b/consul/state/tombstone_gc.go
@@ -6,49 +6,52 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-// TombstoneGC is used to track creation of tombstones
-// so that they can be garbage collected after their TTL
-// expires. The tombstones allow queries to provide monotonic
-// index values within the TTL window. The GC is used to
-// prevent monotonic growth in storage usage. This is a trade off
-// between the length of the TTL and the storage overhead.
+// TombstoneGC is used to track creation of tombstones so that they can be
+// garbage collected after their TTL expires. The tombstones allow queries to
+// provide monotonic index values within the TTL window. The GC is used to
+// prevent monotonic growth in storage usage. This is a trade off between the
+// length of the TTL and the storage overhead.
 //
-// In practice, this is required to fix the issue of delete
-// visibility. When data is deleted from the KV store, the
-// "latest" row can go backwards if the newest row is removed.
-// The tombstones provide a way to ensure time doesn't move
-// backwards within some interval.
+// In practice, this is required to fix the issue of delete visibility. When
+// data is deleted from the KV store, the "latest" row can go backwards if the
+// newest row is removed. The tombstones provide a way to ensure time doesn't
+// move backwards within some interval.
 //
 type TombstoneGC struct {
-	ttl         time.Duration
+	// ttl sets the TTL for tombstones.
+	ttl time.Duration
+
+	// granularity determines how we bin TTLs into timers.
 	granularity time.Duration
 
 	// enabled controls if we actually setup any timers.
 	enabled bool
 
-	// expires maps the time of expiration to the highest
-	// tombstone value that should be expired.
+	// expires maps the time of expiration to the highest tombstone value
+	// that should be expired.
 	expires map[time.Time]*expireInterval
 
-	// expireCh is used to stream expiration
+	// expireCh is used to stream expiration to the leader for processing.
 	expireCh chan uint64
 
-	// lock is used to ensure safe access to all the fields
+	// lock is used to ensure safe access to all the fields.
 	lock sync.Mutex
 }
 
-// expireInterval is used to track the maximum index
-// to expire in a given interval with a timer
+// expireInterval is used to track the maximum index to expire in a given
+// interval with a timer.
 type expireInterval struct {
+	// maxIndex has the highest tombstone index that should be GC-d.
 	maxIndex uint64
-	timer    *time.Timer
+
+	// timer is the timer tracking this bin.
+	timer *time.Timer
 }
 
-// NewTombstoneGC is used to construct a new TombstoneGC given
-// a TTL for tombstones and a tracking granularity. Longer TTLs
-// ensure correct behavior for more time, but use more storage.
-// A shorter granularity increases the number of Raft transactions
-// and reduce how far past the TTL we perform GC.
+// NewTombstoneGC is used to construct a new TombstoneGC given a TTL for
+// tombstones and a tracking granularity. Longer TTLs ensure correct behavior
+// for more time, but use more storage. A shorter granularity increases the
+// number of Raft transactions and reduce how far past the TTL we perform GC.
 func NewTombstoneGC(ttl, granularity time.Duration) (*TombstoneGC, error) {
 	// Sanity check the inputs
 	if ttl <= 0 || granularity <= 0 {
@@ -65,8 +68,8 @@ func NewTombstoneGC(ttl, granularity time.Duration) (*TombstoneGC, error) {
 	return t, nil
 }
 
-// ExpireCh is used to return a channel that streams the next index
-// that should be expired
+// ExpireCh is used to return a channel that streams the next index that should
+// be expired.
 func (t *TombstoneGC) ExpireCh() <-chan uint64 {
 	return t.expireCh
 }
@@ -103,17 +106,17 @@ func (t *TombstoneGC) Hint(index uint64) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Check for an existing expiration timer
+	// Check for an existing expiration timer and bump its index if we
+	// find one.
 	exp, ok := t.expires[expires]
 	if ok {
-		// Increment the highest index to be expired at that time
 		if index > exp.maxIndex {
 			exp.maxIndex = index
 		}
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Create new expiration time
+	// Create a new expiration timer.
 	t.expires[expires] = &expireInterval{
 		maxIndex: index,
 		timer: time.AfterFunc(expires.Sub(time.Now()), func() {
@@ -122,14 +125,17 @@ func (t *TombstoneGC) Hint(index uint64) {
 	}
 }
 
-// PendingExpiration is used to check if any expirations are pending
+// PendingExpiration is used to check if any expirations are pending.
 func (t *TombstoneGC) PendingExpiration() bool {
 	t.lock.Lock()
 	defer t.lock.Unlock()
+
 	return len(t.expires) > 0
 }
 
-// nextExpires is used to calculate the next expiration time
+// nextExpires is used to calculate the next expiration time, based on the
+// granularity that is set. This allows us to bin expirations and avoid a ton
+// of timers.
 func (t *TombstoneGC) nextExpires() time.Time {
 	expires := time.Now().Add(t.ttl)
 	remain := expires.UnixNano() % int64(t.granularity)
@@ -137,7 +143,7 @@ func (t *TombstoneGC) nextExpires() time.Time {
 	return adj
 }
 
-// expireTime is used to expire the entries at the given time
+// expireTime is used to expire the entries at the given time.
 func (t *TombstoneGC) expireTime(expires time.Time) {
 	// Get the maximum index and clear the entry
 	t.lock.Lock()