Red brick either side of a dark double door at Crest Hill School in 2021, a wall light above the transom and snow on the ground
Case File 391

Blending Out White Blotches at Crest Hill School

White blotches showed across the brick at this school entrance, and cleaning did not take them out. The school had the spots stained in 2007 to blend them into the wall. It was photographed again fourteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 391
Structure School
Location Crest Hill
Stained 2007
Re-photographed 2021
Elapsed 14 years, Silver level

2007

  1. The red brick wall above a school entrance in 2007, pale white blotches scattered across the units, an extension ladder leaning beside the doors under a wall light Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  2. The same red brick wall above the school entrance in 2007 after staining, the white blotches blended into the surrounding units, with the wall light and the top of the ladder at the left edge After, 2007 View this photo larger

What was wrong

White blotches across the face of the brick, which the file puts down to kiln scum. Cleaning had been tried first and the marks stayed. The school hired the correction.

What was done

Mineral stain brushed over the white spots to blend them into the wall around them. The file records that one step and nothing more: no color change to the elevation, no replacement of units.

2021, fourteen years on

  1. A school entrance in 2021, a dark double door with a transom set in red brick under a dark fascia, a ribbon window to the right, snow banked against the wall and the certification stamp in the corner After, 2021 View this photo larger
  2. The entrance wall in 2021 seen from along the elevation, a long run of red brick with scattered grey headers carried past the dark double door to a ribbon window, snow and a yellow curb line at the foot of the wall After, 2021 View this photo larger
  3. The same entrance in 2021 from close in and looking up, the lower wing meeting the taller wall at an inside corner, conduit painted to the brick on the left return and a snow drift against the doors After, 2021 View this photo larger
  4. The wall at unit scale in 2021, red brick in running bond with scattered darker headers, a few faces reading slightly different in tone from the units around them After, 2021 View this photo larger

What fourteen years prove

The file's own line is that cleaning did not remove the white marks and staining did. On the certification scale fourteen years is Silver, which covers ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is nineteen years old, and the 2021 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 391, 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 391, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Crest Hill School (2007)
Level
Silver. 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 school or university
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"White blotches in the brick; might be kiln scum. Either way, they had to go!"
What was corrected
"Stained over white spots to better blend them in the wall."
Storyline
"Cleaning did not remove the white marks on the brick, however staining worked wonderfully. It still looks great all these years later!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2021
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