The front of the house in 2019, buff brick under a dark shingle roof above a full bed of hydrangeas and perennials
Case File 128

Blending Oversized Handmade Brick on a Chelsea Home

Oversized handmade brick went up on this house with dark, blotchy units scattered through every wall. The company that made the brick hired the correction in July 1997. The house was photographed again twenty-two years later and certified Platinum.

Case No. 128
Structure Single-family house
Location Chelsea, Michigan
Stained July 1997
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1997

  1. The front of the house in July 1997, newly built on bare dirt, its grey and tan brick mottled with dark units under a dark shingle roof with three dormers Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  2. The gable end of the front wing in 1997, a large arched window between black shutters, dark brick scattered through the buff and tan units Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  3. The front entry in 1997, white double doors with a transom under a soldier course, dark units patched through the brick on both sides Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  4. The front of the house during the 1997 work, an applicator on an extension ladder at the far left window and the wall around him already lightened During, 1997 View this photo larger
  5. The same gable end in July 1997 after staining, the brick around the arched window reading as one buff range, the camera date in the corner After, 1997 View this photo larger
  6. The front entry in 1997 after staining, the brick either side of the white double doors reading as one range under the porch roof After, 1997 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The house is laid in an oversized handmade brick, and many of the units arrived without the white coating that is fired on at the plant. Those units read dark, and they were scattered through every wall, so the whole exterior looked blotchy. The file records it as a complaint. The company that made the brick hired the correction, not the homeowner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, one unit at a time. The dark brick were lightened until they sat inside the range of the rest, and the rest were left alone. The file puts it in one line: "we lightened the dark areas for a better blend."

2019, twenty-two years on

  1. The whole front of the house in 2019 from the garden, three dormers and the gabled wing in one even buff range, hydrangeas and perennials grown up to the windows 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The side elevation in 2019, two dormers above shuttered windows, ivy climbing the buff brick between them and ferns along the base After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The front entry in 2019, white double doors between two ferns, the brick either side one even buff range with a wall planter to the right After, 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

Same front, same gable, same entry. The notes in the file say the stain has weathered naturally like the original brick, and that after twenty-two years you still cannot tell the difference. On the certification scale that is Platinum, which starts at twenty years. 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 128, transcribed beside it so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 128, filled in and signed, rendered from the case booklet View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Chelsea, MI (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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Background
"There were dark and blotchy areas throughout the exterior of the house due to coating that was missing on the brick."
Actions taken
"We lightened the dark areas for a better blend."
Detail of events
"While the Oversized Handmade brick used to be a popular brick made, it is only manufactured by a few companies today."
Notes in the file
"Many of the brick were missing a white coating that's fired on when manufactured, which caused the dark coloring." "We color corrected the dark brick throughout the home by lightening them to match within the color range." "22 years later and the stain has weathered naturally like the original brick."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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