The front of the Canton house in 2020, cream and tan brick running unbroken across the gable, the bay window and the entrance
Case File 179

Lightening Orange Headers on a Canton Michigan House

The headers on this brick went up a different color from the face, so every corner and every window return read orange against the wall behind it. The brick manufacturer paid to have the headers lightened in 2010. The house was photographed again ten years later and certified Silver.

Case No. 179
Structure Two-story house
Location Canton, Michigan
Stained 2010
Re-photographed 2020
Elapsed 10 years, Silver level

2010

  1. The front of the house in July 2010, a two-story bay window beside the entrance, orange header bricks standing out at every corner and around the bay against the pale face brick, bare dirt where the lawn will go Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  2. The entrance and the gable above it a day later, the corner courses and the band over the door reading the same cream and tan as the wall around them After, 2010 View this photo larger
  3. The bay window corner in close-up in July 2010, orange header bricks turned end on running up both piers and along the sill course Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  4. The same bay corner seen from the side wall a day later, the header courses lightened so the piers read as one blend with the long wall running back behind them After, 2010 View this photo larger
  5. The garage doors in July 2010, an orange header course framing both openings and running up the corner pier at the left Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  6. The same garage wall a day later, the framing courses and the corner pier matched to the field brick, a shuttered window at the left After, 2010 View this photo larger
  7. The rear corner of the house by the dryer vent in July 2010, orange headers stepping up the return where the shadow falls across it Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  8. The same rear corner a day later, the headers lightened into the wall, an air conditioning unit and a new paver walk below After, 2010 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file is specific. The face of the brick on the home was different than the headers, causing the corners to appear more orange. Nothing had failed. Headers are the short ends, turned out at every corner, pier and window return, and on this house they went orange and outlined the building.

What was done

The orange headers were lightened to better match the field brick, in the file's words, and only the headers were touched. The Before frames are dated 15 July 2010 and the After frames 16 July 2010, so the corrective work took a day.

2020, ten years on

  1. The front of the house in 2020, cream and tan brick reading as one blend across the gable, the bay window and the entrance, with grown shrubs along the bed and a shade tree at the corner After, 2020 View this photo larger
  2. The brick piers either side of the bay window in 2020, the header faces still sitting in the same range as the wall around them After, 2020 View this photo larger
  3. A sliding window on the side wall in 2020, the brick around it and the corner return beyond it reading as one even range After, 2020 View this photo larger

What ten years prove

The same bay corner, the same side wall, the headers still down in the blend rather than outlining the house. The file records no cracking, blistering, peeling or fading. Ten years and over is Silver on the certification scale. As of 2026 the work is sixteen years old.

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 179, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 179, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Canton (2010)
Level
Silver. The scale runs Bronze at seven years and over, Silver at ten and over, Gold at fifteen and over, Platinum at twenty and over.
Hired by
The brick manufacturer
Cause
Complaint or problem
Background
"The face of the brick on the home was different than the headers, causing the corners to appear more orange."
Actions taken
"We lightened all orange headers to better match the field brick."
Detail of events
"The manufacturer hired us to stain the headers that did not match the face of the brick. It still looks great eleven years later!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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