A long buff brick wall at the church in 2020, snow on its coping and a bare tree in front of it
Case File 343

Matching Brick Shapes to the Stretchers on a Church

The brick shapes on this church were made in a separate run from the stretchers and came out a different color from the wall around them. The brick manufacturer paid to have them corrected in 1996. Photographed again in 2020 and certified Platinum.

Case No. 343
Structure Church
Location Not released
Stained 1996
Re-photographed 2020
Elapsed 24 years, Platinum level

1996

  1. The outside corner of a buff brick wall on a block base in 1996, the corner units reading as one flat pale tan against the mottled stretchers on both faces Before, 1996 View this photo larger
  2. The same corner in 1996 after staining, the corner units carrying the same range of tans and browns as the stretchers on either side After, 1996 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The shapes did not match the stretchers. The file explains why: brick shapes are often made separately from the stretcher brick, and when that happens they can be hard to match in color. In the 1996 frames the corner units read as one flat pale tan against the mottled stretchers on both faces.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand. The shapes were darkened and lightened unit by unit for a better match, so the corner carries the same range of tans and browns as the stretchers beside it. The brick manufacturer hired the job, not the church.

2020, twenty-four years on

  1. A long buff brick wall in snow in 2020, a bare tree in front of it and the certification stamp in the corner of the frame After, 2020 View this photo larger

What twenty-four years prove

The 2020 frame in the file is a long run of buff brick in snow, with the certification stamp on it. The form was signed in 2020, twenty-four years after the work; its storyline rounds that to twenty-five. Either figure clears the twenty-year Platinum threshold on the certification scale. As of 2026 the work is thirty 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 343, transcribed beside the scan so a phone and a search engine can read it.

Scan of the case study form for case 343, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Shapes in a Church (1996)
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
Issue
"The shapes didn't match the stretchers."
What was corrected
"We darkened and lightened the shapes for a better match."
Storyline
"Sometimes brick shapes are made seperately from the stretcher brick. What that happens, it can be difficult to match them in color. This is where our process can come in and solve issues like this: and this example still looks great 25 years later!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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