The entrance wing of the church in 2019, red brick under a drive-through canopy on round white columns, with the church's name sign on the wall
Case File 069

Taking Calvary Baptist Church From Buff Brick to Red

Nothing was wrong with this church's buff brick. The congregation wanted a different building, so every brick on it was stained to a red the church chose for itself. It was photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 069
Structure Church, whole building
Location Michigan
Stained 2001
Re-photographed July 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Platinum level

2001

  1. The church entrance in June 2001, buff brick with darker units scattered through it under a porch roof on black iron trellis columns, daisies in the bed and a camera date of 6 21 01 in the corner Before, 2001 View this photo larger
  2. The long side elevation of the church in 2001, a low buff brick wall of tall narrow windows under a wide shingle roof, with a flagpole and a cross on the roofline above Before, 2001 View this photo larger

What the church wanted

Nothing had failed. The file records a makeover, not a complaint: the church wanted to update the look of their brick, and hired the work itself. In 2001 the building was a buff blend with darker units scattered through it.

What was done

All of it. The file's figure is 100% of the brick, to a color the church created their own custom recipe for. Mineral stain brushed by hand carries the color into the face of each unit, which is how a buff building becomes a red one with nothing to peel. The 2019 frames also show a drive-through canopy at the entrance that the 2001 frames do not; the file does not describe it.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The church entrance in the rain in 2019, red brick under a drive-through canopy on round white columns, a sign reading Calvary Baptist Church on the wall and clipped hedges along the base After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The long side elevation in 2019, red brick and tall narrow windows under the shingle roof, a flagpole in front and ornamental grasses and evergreens against the wall 2019 View this photo larger
  3. Brick at close range in 2019, red units with a sanded face in grey mortar joints, one grey unit in the second course 2019 View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

The same red on the entrance wing and the long elevation, the joints still reading as joints. The file's own words: 18 years after when we went back, it still looked great. The form marks it Platinum. As of 2026 the work is twenty-five years old, and the 2019 revisit is the most recent record on it.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form. This is the one for case 069, transcribed beside it so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 069, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Church, Michigan (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
Business or corporation
Cause
Addition or makeover
Background
"This church wanted to update the look of their brick."
Actions taken
"We stained 100% of the brick for a complete makeover."
Detail of events
"The church created their own custom recipe that meant something to them. 18 years after when we went back, it still looked great!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The long side of the school in 2019, tall windows set in brick that runs as one range of reds, tans and browns with darker courses banding across it.

Matching New Brick to Old at Northern Hills High School
The four-story office from across the street in 2019, one cream brick elevation under the Diocese of Grand Rapids lettering.

Darkening Light Corner Brick at the Grand Rapids Diocese
The corner of the school in 2019 with an entrance under the taller block behind it, the brick reading as one red and brown range along both walls

Darkening Light 8x8 Units on a Bluffton High School

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