The side wall of the Grand Rapids hotel in 2019, its brick a blend of red, brown and grey running the length of the wall
Case File 029

Evening Out Blotchy Brick on a Grand Rapids Hotel

The brick on this two-story hotel went up blotchy, patch against patch, on a building that was not yet finished. The company that made the brick paid to have it corrected. It was photographed again twenty-two years later and certified then.

Case No. 029
Structure Two-story hotel
Location Grand Rapids, Michigan
Stained October 1997
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1997

  1. The long elevation of the hotel in 1997 on bare graded ground, its brick running in patches of pale pink and dark red between the window bays Before View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner of the hotel in 1997 with an extension ladder against the wall and a tub, a bottle and a step stool on the pavement below it 1997 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The brick had gone up in patches, dark against light, on a building that was still on bare ground. The file records the issue in five words: the building was extremely blotchy.

The brick manufacturer hired the correction, not the owner and not the mason. The file also records this as one of three AmeriHost Inns stained over the years, each with the same issue.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit, and in two directions at once. The phrase in the file is some areas needed lightened, some areas needed darkened to create a far better blend.

2019, twenty-two years on

  1. The full side wall of the hotel in 2019, two stories of red, brown and grey brick reading as one blend, with a hotel banner fixed high on it 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The guest room elevation from the parking lot in 2019, its brick one blend of red and brown across both floors, with the certification stamp in the corner of the frame 22 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The single-story wing of the hotel in 2019, blended brick piers between glazed bays behind a terrace rail and low planting 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

Same building, and a blend that is still a blend rather than a wall of patches. On the certification scale that is Platinum, which covers twenty years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-nine 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 029, 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 029, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI (1997)
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
"The building was extremely blotchy."
What was corrected
"Some areas needed lightened, some areas needed darkened to create a far better blend."
Storyline
"This was one of three Amerihost Inn's that we stained over the years. Each Amerihost had the same issue. All of the projects looked great when we finished! The projects still look great in 2019."
Address
"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