Brick and a shuttered upper window on a Fishers house in 2019, the wall one even cream and buff range
Case File 078

Lightening a Repair Patch and Mortar on a Fishers Home

A repair on this two-story house had left a patch that read wrong: off color mortar joints and replacement brick darker than the wall around it. Both the mortar and the brick were lightened to bring the patch back into the wall. It was photographed again twenty-one years later and certified then.

Case No. 078
Structure Two-story home
Location Fishers, Indiana
Stained November 1998
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 21 years, Platinum level

1998

  1. An extension ladder standing against the brick gable end of a house in 1998, an attic vent in the peak above a wide window, the brick a pale grey and cream range During, 1998 View this photo larger
  2. The gable end of the house in low winter sun in 1998, an attic vent in the peak above an upper window with no shutters, the brick one buff range After, 1998 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The wall had already been repaired, and the repair showed. The file names the issue as a poor looking repair: the mortar joints were off color and the replacement brick was darker than the wall around it.

The payer on the form is a business or corporation, not the homeowner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, onto the mortar joints as well as the brick. The correction on the form is one line: lighten the mortar and the brick to create a better match. The verbatim wording is in the transcription below.

2019, twenty-one years on

  1. The same gable end in 2019, the attic vent in the peak and the upper window now flanked by black shutters, the brick an even cream and buff range After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The brick at unit scale in 2019, pale grey and cream units with red flecks and wide grey mortar joints, on a pier between the garage door and the porch 21 Years After View this photo larger

What twenty-one years prove

Same gable, same attic vent, same window opening, with shutters added somewhere in between. Mortar takes stain as readily as brick does, and both are still holding their range. On the certification scale that is Platinum, which covers twenty years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-eight years old.

The revisit was made from the street, with trees in the way, which is why the file is this thin. It says so itself.

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 078, 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 078, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Fishers, IN Residence (1998)
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
A business or corporation
Reason for project
Other
Issue
"Poor looking repair. The mortar joints were off colored and the brick were to dark."
What was corrected
"We lightened the mortar and the brick to create a better match!"
Storyline
"We went back to check on this project in 2019, and it looked great from the road. The current occupants were home, but would not answer the door. We took what photos we could from the street, but trees were in the way. Still looks great all these years later!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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