The brick at an outside corner of the library in 2019, the shaped corner units reading as one range with the walls either side of them
Case File 240

Staining Off Color Corner Shapes at Green Street Library

The shaped units that turn the outside corners of this library came out a different color from the rest of the brick, so every corner read as a pale stripe up the wall. The company that made the brick paid to have the corners stained rather than cut out. It was photographed again twelve years later and certified then.

Case No. 240
Structure Library
Location Not named on the file
Stained 2007
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 12 years, Silver level

2007

  1. An outside corner of the library in 2007, the shaped units turning the corner reading pale orange against the darker red brown brick on both walls, the ground still bare at the base Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  2. The same corner later in 2007, the shaped corner units now sitting in the same red brown range as the flat brick either side of them After, 2007 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Not dirt, and nothing had failed. The corner shapes, the moulded units that turn an outside corner, came out a different color from the rest of the range. The file names the effect: the off-colored corner shapes caused zippers in the wall. Each corner read as a pale vertical stripe against the flat brick either side of it.

Hired by reads brick manufacturer, and the reason is marked complaint or problem. The company that made the units paid to correct them on a finished building.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, and only where the problem was: we stained all of the corner shapes. The flat brick either side of each corner was left as it was laid.

2019, twelve years on

  1. The base of an outside corner of the library in 2019, the shaped corner units reading as one warm tan range with the walls either side, grass at the foot of the wall and the certification stamp on the frame 12 Years After View this photo larger

What twelve years prove

Corner shapes still sitting inside the range rather than jumping out of it. The file's own closing line is that twelve years later it looks good. On the certification scale that is Silver, which covers ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is nineteen 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 240, 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 240, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Green St. Library (2007)
Level
Silver. 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
Brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"The corner shapes did not match the rest of the range."
What was corrected
"We stained all of the corner shapes."
Storyline
"The off-colored corner shapes caused zippers in the wall that were undesireable. We color enhanced the shapes and 12 years later it looks good."
Address
"Permission needed to release address." No town and no state anywhere on the form.
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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