The brick column on the university campus in 2019, its 2002 date stone set in salmon red brick above a cast stone base
Case File 032

Restoring Salmon Color to Stripped Sandmold Columns

A cleaning contractor took some of the surface color off the sandmold brick on the columns of this university building. The mason had the exposed brick stained back to salmon in 2002. It was photographed again seventeen years later and certified on the file.

Case No. 032
Structure University building
Location Grand Rapids, Michigan
Stained 2002
Re-photographed June 2019
Elapsed 17 years, Platinum level

2002

  1. The brick column in May 2002, its face reading pale buff and tan above a band of redder brick at the 2002 date stone, on a fresh cast stone base with new shrubs in front and a camera date of 5/24/02 in the corner Before, 2002 View this photo larger
  2. A brick wall above its cast stone base in 2002, shot in shade from a film print, the courses reading darker red and brown with a vertical joint line running down the left After, 2002 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file records small areas on the bottom of the columns as off color, and says why: the cleaning contractor removed some of the surface color, exposing the base color of the sandmold brick. The mason who built it hired the correction, not the university.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand. In the file's own words, we stained the dark brick to a salmon color. It is plain about the limit too: the texture could not be put back, but the color could. The 2002 frames show the column before and the wall after.

2019, seventeen years on

  1. The brick column in June 2019, one salmon red range from top to bottom with the 2002 date stone above the cast stone base and three maroon benches on the paving in front 17 Years After View this photo larger
  2. The 2002 date stone in 2019, set in salmon red brick just above the cast stone base, the courses around it holding one range After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The full face of the brick column in 2019 under a soffit, salmon red brick running down to the 2002 date stone and the cast stone base, a tree at the right edge After, 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Brick at close range in 2019 beside a downspout, salmon, red and grey units in every course with grey mortar, over a cast stone base After, 2019 View this photo larger
  5. The bottom courses of the column in 2019 meeting the cast stone base, the edge of the date stone at the left and evergreens beyond the corner After, 2019 View this photo larger

What seventeen years prove

Same column, same date stone, one salmon range down to the cast stone base. The form has the X against Platinum, the level the scale gives to twenty years and over; it was signed in 2020, eighteen years after the stain. The 2019 photographs are the most recent record on the file.

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 032, transcribed beside it so it reads on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 032, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
University, Grand Rapids, MI (2002)
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 mason or contractor
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"Small areas on the bottom of the columns were off-colored."
What was corrected
"We stained the dark brick to a salmon color."
Storyline
"The cleaning contractor removed some of the surface color, exposing the base color of the sandmold brick. We couldn't replace the texture but we were able to color enhance the brick."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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