The brick front of a two-story home in 2019, reading as one warm cream and buff range across the wall
Case File 242

Restoring Lost White Color on a Galena Ohio Home

The brick on this two-story home had lost a lot of its white color. The company that made the brick paid to have ninety percent of it stained in 2011, mixed from a couple of different recipes. It was photographed again eight years later and certified then.

Case No. 242
Structure Two-story brick home
Location Galena, Ohio
Stained 2011
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 8 years, Bronze level

2011

  1. A blank side wall and outside corner of the house in 2011, the brick a flat chalky grey white from the ground to the eaves Before, 2011 View this photo larger
  2. An applicator on a ladder in 2011, stain pots hooked to the rungs, working across the brick above the garage openings During, 2011 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file puts it in a line: the brick had lost a lot of its white color. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The color the wall was built to carry had gone out of it, and gone unevenly. It was hired by the company that made the brick, not by the owner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand. Ninety percent of the wall was stained, and the file records a couple of different recipes rather than one, so the units could be brought into range instead of one flat color over everything. The brick is oversized and handmade, which the file singles out.

2019, eight years on

  1. The front of the house from the lawn in 2019, the brick reading as one warm cream and buff range across the two-story centre and both wings 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The arched entry and front door in 2019, the brick around the arch and the windows carrying the same cream and buff range 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The garage openings in 2019, their segmental brick arches and carriage lamps above the driveway 8 Years After View this photo larger
  4. An outside corner of the single-story wing in 2019, the brick running evenly around both faces under a wall lamp 2019 View this photo larger

What eight years prove

Same house, eight years on, and the brick still reads as one range rather than as a wall that was treated. The mark on the file is Bronze, which the certification scale sets at seven to nine years. As of 2026 the work is fifteen 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 242, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 242, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Galena, OH OSHM (2011)
Level
Bronze. 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
Issues
"The brick had lost a lot of its white color."
What was corrected
"We stained 90% of the brick."
Storyline
"This project turned out to be a complete makeover that used a couple of different recipes. Our stain worked perfectly on this oversized, handmade brick."
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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