The front of the Aurora office building in 2019, its brick one even darker red across the entry and the window bays
Case File 258

Taking an Aurora Office Building to a Darker Shade

The brick that arrived for this office did not match the sample that had been approved. The company that made the brick paid for all of it to be taken to a darker shade. It was photographed again twenty-two years later and certified then.

Case No. 258
Structure Single-story office
Location Aurora
Stained 1997
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1997

  1. An applicator on a ladder working across the brick above a window bay in 1997, the wall a pale salmon orange with a band of cast stone above it During, 1997 View this photo larger
  2. The curved corner of the same building later in 1997, the brick reading a deeper red brown around the recessed entrance, with a ladder against the wall and the ground still bare After, 1997 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The brick delivered to the site was not the brick that had been signed off. The file puts it in one line: the brick installed did not match the approved sample brick.

Hired by reads brick mfg. The company that made the brick treated the color of a finished building as its own problem, and paid for staining rather than tear-out.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand, and not a patch: the file records 100% of the brick taken to a darker shade. The file is candid about how it went. It records that this brick was not the best candidate for the product, that there were issues during the work, and that a few areas where acid reacted with the stain were corrected.

2019, twenty-two years on

  1. The front of the building in 2019 across a mown lawn, the entry and the run of window bays carrying one even darker red brick to the curved corner, with the certification stamp at the corner of the frame 22 Years After View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

Same building, same brick, still carrying the darker shade it was taken to. On the certification scale that is Platinum, which covers twenty years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-nine years old, and the 2019 certification is the most recent record on it.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed on the day someone goes back to the building. This is the one for case 258, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

Scan of the case study form for case 258, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Aurora Office Building (1997)
Level
Platinum. The scale runs Bronze at seven to nine years, Silver at ten and over, Gold at fifteen and over, Platinum at twenty and over.
Hired by
Brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"The brick installed in the house did not match the approved sample brick."
What was corrected
"We staine 100% of the brick to a darker shade."
Storyline
"The type of brick used on this home was not the best candidate for our product and we had some issues while staining but we were successful with the staining. There were a few areas where the acid reacted with our stain but we corrected most of them. 22 years later and this job still looks great."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The church across its parking lot in 2019, the gabled glazed nave on the left and a long brick wing running away to the right

Color Enhancing Light Brick and Mortar at St Francis
A university power plant in 2019, five runs of brick reading as one wall

Matching Five Runs of Brick to a Notre Dame Addition
Upward view of the corner of a brick building, its courses banded with cream precast panels, against a clear blue sky

One Stain System Across Brick Courses and Precast Banding

Your Project, Documented for Decades

Every job we stain enters the same discipline: photographed, revisited, re-photographed.

Request a Quote
Call Us Request a Quote