A wide band of the house in 2021, one even red range of brick running past shuttered windows to the far wing
Case File 363

Blending Off Color Sand Molded Brick on an Erie Ranch

A few of the sand molded brick delivered to this new house came off the correct range of color. The brick manufacturer hired the correction rather than leave it. The house was photographed again twenty-two years later and certified then.

Case No. 363
Structure Single-story home
Location Erie, Pennsylvania
Stained September 1999
Re-photographed 2021
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1999

  1. The gable end of the house in 1999, pale cream brick with scattered orange units under a round louvered vent, the ground still bare dirt from construction Before, 1999 View this photo larger
  2. The same gable in 1999 from closer in, two windows set in a field of pale cream brick, a new concrete walk and bare earth at the foot of the wall Before, 1999 View this photo larger
  3. The outside corner in 1999, the front wall reading pale cream against a side wall several shades darker in the same light 1999 View this photo larger
  4. A close view of the wall in 1999, cream brick broken up by scattered orange and red units, with the camera date 9 2 99 burned into the corner Before, 1999 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file calls it off-colored brick throughout the home. The outside corner shows what that meant: one wall reading pale cream against a side wall several shades darker, laid the same week and shot in the same light.

What was done

Multiple custom stain mixes, developed for this house. The file records the work as lightening and darkening the off-colored brick to make a better blend, and only the units out of range were treated.

2021, twenty-two years on

  1. The house from the street in 2021, one even red range of brick across the front gable and the wing beyond, dark green shutters at every window and mature planting along the foundation 2021 View this photo larger
  2. The gable end in 2021, the brick one range from the grade up to the round vent, two shuttered windows and a carriage lamp at the drive After, 2021 View this photo larger
  3. Two gables meeting in 2021, cream siding above and one range of red brick below, seen across a rhododendron After, 2021 View this photo larger
  4. The front of the house in 2021, red brick running level under the eaves past three windows with dark green shutters After, 2021 View this photo larger
  5. The side wall in 2021 during a water test, a damp patch between the two windows wetting the stained brick the same as the brick around it 22 Years After View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

The corner that read as two colors in 1999 reads as one range in 2021. The revisit included a water test: stained brick takes up water the same as the unstained brick beside it. On the certification scale that is Platinum, twenty years and over.

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 363, 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 363, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Erie, PA (1999)
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
"Off-colored brick throughout the home"
What was corrected
"Lightened and darkened the off-colored brick to make a better blend"
Storyline
"Multiple custom stain mixes were developed to color enhance the brick that did not match the correct range of color 22 years ago. The homeowners were not disappointed!"
Field notes
"A few of the sand molded brick on this home were the wrong range of color." "We only stained the off-colored bricks, and they still blend great 22 years later!" "We did a water test to show that a stained brick will get wet naturally just like an unstained brick right next to it."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2021
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