Two wings of Greene Elementary in 2019, the brick reading as one blend across both walls
Case File 046

Blending an Addition Into Greene Elementary School

An addition and a set of fill-ins went up in brick that read too far from the school they joined. A match was never the brief; a closer blend was. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 046
Structure Elementary school addition
Location Not released
Stained 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. The new addition in 2003 before staining, pale cream brick running past three unglazed window openings above bare graded ground Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner of the addition partway through, the long wall carrying a red and tan blend with darker units through it while the return beside it is still pale cream During View this photo larger

What was wrong

The new brick did not sit with the old. The file puts it in one line: the color change on the addition and fillins were too drastic. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The addition simply announced itself.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit, across most of the new brick. The original wall was left alone, and a match was never the brief. The file is unusually direct about that: the ask was a closer blend, not an exact one.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. Two wings of the school meeting at an inside corner in 2019 over a mown lawn, the brick reading as one red and tan blend across both walls and the covered entry between them 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The long elevation seen down the drive in 2019, the brick holding one red and tan range past every window, the frame carrying the Brickman Certified stamp 16 Years After View this photo larger
  3. A recessed side entrance in 2019 with a numbered door plate, the brick of the two walls meeting at the doorway reading in the same red and tan range 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the stained brick at unit scale in 2019, wire-cut faces running from orange through red to tan between grey mortar joints 2019 View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

The addition still sits with the school. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-three 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 046, 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 046, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Greene Elementary (2003)
Level
Gold. 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
Not marked. All eight boxes in the Hired By panel, from school or university to other, are left blank.
Reason for project
Not marked. All four boxes in the Reason for Project panel are left blank, Other included.
Issue
"The color change on the addition and fillins were too drastic."
What was corrected
"We were not hired to match the original building. They just wanted to get a closer blend. We stained the majority of the new brick."
Storyline
"They did not want an exact match, but enough of a change to better compliment the original brick. It turned out great!"
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 07/07/2019
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