The pierced brick screen wall inside the Elmhurst church in 2021, one range of cream brick under a wood ceiling
Case File 404

Lightening Dark Brick in an Elmhurst Church Wall

Too many dark brick had gone into a pale wall inside this Elmhurst church. The brick manufacturer paid to have the dark units lightened into the range in 1989. It was photographed again thirty-two years later and certified Platinum.

Case No. 404
Structure Church, interior wall
Location Elmhurst, Illinois
Stained 1989
Re-photographed 2021
Elapsed 32 years, Platinum level

1989

  1. The pierced brick screen wall in 1989, shot from above through the roof trusses, pale brick with scattered darker units and a run of track lights rigged along the top Before, 1989 View this photo larger
  2. A side wall of pale brick in 1989 with darker units scattered through the courses, a single door in a block surround and the pierced screen wall rising to the right under a wood ceiling Before, 1989 View this photo larger

What was wrong

A pale cream brick across a gabled hall, with a pierced screen wall over the doors. The file's line is short: too many dark brick that did not belong in the color range. The brick manufacturer, not the owner, hired the correction.

What was done

The dark units were lightened rather than the whole wall darkened to meet them. In the file's words, we lightened the dark brick to make a better blend in the wall.

2021, thirty-two years on

  1. The gable end of the hall in 2021, one range of cream brick across the pierced screen wall above two pairs of doors, pendant lights hanging from the wood ceiling, with the certification stamp in the corner After, 2021 View this photo larger
  2. The hall in 2021 looking down the pews to the end wall, pale cream brick carrying a plain wood cross up to the ridge, cylinder pendants hung from the wood ceiling After, 2021 View this photo larger
  3. The corner of the hall in 2021 where the side wall meets the screen wall, one cream range across both, a painted column carrying the roof beams and the lobby doors beyond After, 2021 View this photo larger
  4. The pierced brick screen wall in 2021 seen from below, the open courses stepping down across it in the same cream range as the solid brick under them After, 2021 View this photo larger
  5. The stained wall in 2021 at unit scale, every brick sitting inside one narrow cream range across the courses with no dark unit standing out of it After, 2021 View this photo larger

What thirty-two years prove

Same hall, same pendant lights, one range of cream brick from the doors to the ridge. The note on the file in 2021 reads still looks great over 32 years later. On the certification scale that is Platinum, twenty years and over, and this record clears the threshold by twelve.

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 404, 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 404, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Elmhurst IL (1989)
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
"Too many dark brick that didn't belong in the color range."
What was corrected
"We lightened the dark brick to make a better blend in the wall."
Storyline
"Still looks great over 32 years later!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2021
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