The brick entry gable of a Brighton, Michigan house in 2019, its whites sitting inside one red and brown range
Case File 107

Toning Down Bright White Brick on a Brighton Home

The brick on this two-story house went up with too many bright white units in the wall. The homeowner paid to have the whites toned down into a softer range. It was photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 107
Structure Two-story home
Location Brighton, Michigan
Stained 2001
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Platinum level

2001

  1. Two applicators working from ladders across the front of a two-story brick house in 2001, bright white units scattered through the wall During, 2001 View this photo larger
  2. Close view of the wall in 2001, a dozen near-white units standing out hard against the reds and browns around them, with pale green mortar joints During, 2001 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The brick went up with too many bright white units scattered through the wall. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the range was wrong. The file puts it in ten words: there were too many "bright white brick" in the wall.

The homeowner hired it, and the reason recorded on the form is a color change rather than a complaint.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Not one color over the whole wall: the whites were toned down until they sat inside the range around them, which is why the finished elevation still reads as several brick colors. The phrase in the file is a softer, more acceptable range of whites.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The arched brick entry and gable of the house in 2019, a herringbone panel under the bay window and mature planting either side of the step 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The two-story gable of the house in 2019, an arched window set in brick that reads as one range of reds, browns and buffs 18 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The brick pier and side wall inside the covered entry in 2019, a lantern on the wall and dark accent units running through the courses 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of an outside brick corner of the house in 2019, the units in reds, buffs and near-blacks with pale mortar joints 2019 View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

Same house, same wall, and the whites still sit inside the range they were mixed to. The form marks the work Platinum, the top of the certification scale. As of 2026 the work is twenty-five 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 107, 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 107, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Brighton, MI Residence (2001)
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
The homeowner
Reason for project
Color change
Issue
"There were too many 'bright white brick' in the wall."
What was corrected
"MCI 'toned down' the majority of the 'bright white brick' to create a more subtle range."
Storyline
"The 'bright white brick' were too light. We created a softer, more acceptable range of whites."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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