The gable end of a two-story brick apartment block in 2019, a second block and the lawn walkways behind it
Case File 291

Matching a Brick Repair at the Eaton Ave Apartments

A small patch of replacement brick went into this apartment block in a color that did not match the wall around it. The mason who did the repair paid to have the patch stained rather than pulled out. It was photographed again nineteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 291
Structure Two-story apartment block
Location Eaton Ave, Ohio
Stained September 2000
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 19 years, Gold level

2000

  1. The upper wall of the apartment block in 2000, the brick around and above one window in lighter red and orange units against the dark maroon field beside it Before, 2000 View this photo larger
  2. The gable end of the two-story apartment block in 2000, four windows set in dark maroon brick under a hipped roof After, 2000 View this photo larger

What was wrong

A repair had been made and the brick chosen for it was wrong. The file puts the issue in one line: the customer wanted a better match for their range of brick. The 2000 frame shows it, a lighter run of units sitting in the dark field around the window.

It was hired by the mason or contractor who did the repair, not by the owner and not by the brick supplier.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, on the patch alone. The file says we stained 100% of the repair. It also says what stain cannot fix: the texture of the replacement brick still does not match the original. Color was the part that could be corrected, and it was.

2019, nineteen years on

  1. The apartment block along its gable end in 2019, the wall carrying one red range from the eaves to the grass, with a second block and the lawn walkways beyond it 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The upper wall around the same window in 2019, an electrical box under the eaves and the brick reading as one red range across the repaired area and the original beside it 2019 View this photo larger
  3. Close view of the same window in 2019, the sill course and the brick on both sides of the opening reading as one red range, with the Brickman certified stamp in the corner of the frame 19 Years After View this photo larger
  4. The far gable end of the apartment block in 2019 from the parking lot, a broad red brick wall running up to the roof line under open sky 2019 View this photo larger

What nineteen years prove

A stained repair is the hardest kind to check, because it either still reads as a patch or it does not. Nineteen years on it does not. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-six 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 291, 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 291, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Eaton Ave Apartment Repair (2000)
Level
Gold. 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 mason or contractor
Reason for project
Color change
Issue
"The customer wanted a better match for their range of brick."
What was corrected
"We stained 100% of the repair."
Storyline
"This was a very small repair job and the texture of the brick chosen for the repair did not match the original brick. However, our stain helped match the color of the new brick to the old brick. We stained this building 19 years ago (2019) and it has stood the test of time and still looks great today!"
Address
Withheld on the form: "Permission needed to release address."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The underside and brick fascia of the academy's entrance canopy in 2019, the courses running unbroken into the wing beyond it.

Darkening Hard Brick Areas at Tech Academy in Michigan
The gabled end of the building in 2019, red brick from the ground to the pediment, with the two window bands reading a lighter red than the courses around them.

Changing White Brick Bands to Red at Clark Center
The college building from the courtyard in 2019, a tan brick tower rising above a lower brick wing behind an iron railing.

Matching One Floor of Off Run Brick on a Pittsburgh College

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