The front entry of the Highland house in 2019, a split-face stone arch and piers with red brick walls and a window to the right
Case File 140

Correcting Power Washer Damage on a Highland Home

A power washer took the coating off part of the brick on this house and left those areas noticeably off color. The damaged units were color corrected in 2000. The house was photographed again nineteen years later and certified on that record.

Case No. 140
Structure House
Location Highland, Michigan
Stained November 2000
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 19 years, Platinum level

2000

  1. The front gable of the house in 2000 with two extension ladders leaning against the red brick beside an arched window, bare trees behind the roof During, 2000 View this photo larger
  2. A three-part window in the red brick wall in 2000, with a run of darker off color units under the sill at the left and a camera date stamp in the corner Before, 2000 View this photo larger
  3. The same three-part window in 2000 after the correction, the brick under the sill reading as one range with the wall, a downspout at the left After, 2000 View this photo larger
  4. An outside corner of the house in 2000 with a downspout on the arris, a ladder at the right and a camera date stamp of 11 12 00 in the corner During, 2000 View this photo larger
  5. An inside corner of the house in 2000, an oval window with a cast stone surround between a double-hung window and a return wall, under grey shingles During, 2000 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Someone had power washed the house. On part of the brick the coating came off the face of the units, and those areas read noticeably off color; the file circles a patch beside one window and a run of units under its sill. Nothing structural had failed. The file records a mason or contractor, not the homeowner, as the party that hired the correction.

What was done

A test panel first, made, in the file's words, to make sure of the match before completing the rest of the home. Then the damaged units were color corrected, stain worked into each one by hand, back into the range of the wall around them. The form claims nothing more than that.

2019, nineteen years on

  1. The front entry of the house in 2019, a gabled porch of split-face stone with an arched opening and a glazed door, red brick walls and a three-part window to the right 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The same inside corner in 2019, the oval window and the double-hung window in one range of red brick, a tree grown up in front of the return wall After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The outside corner in 2019 at brick scale, a downspout on the arris, red and salmon units with dark headers scattered through the courses, hostas at the foot After, 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The front gable in 2019 seen through summer trees, the arched window and the oval window in one range of red brick beside the stone entry 19 Years After View this photo larger

What nineteen years prove

Same corner, same oval window, same three-part window. The corrected units read as the rest of the wall, and the note on the 2019 frame is plain: no fading, blistering, cracking, peeling or flaking after 19 years. On the certification scale the form marks Platinum, twenty years and over, signed in 2020. As of 2026 the work is twenty-six years old, and the 2019 photographs are 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 140, transcribed beside it so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 140, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Highland, MI (2000)
Level
Platinum. The scale runs Bronze at seven years and over, Silver at ten and over, Gold at fifteen and over, Platinum at twenty and over.
Hired by
Mason or contractor
Cause
Complaint or problem
Background
"The brick on this house was damaged due to a power washer."
Actions taken
"We color corrected the damaged brick."
Detail of events
"Power washers can be detrimental to brick, but it's something that we can fix. The coating came off some of this homeowner's brick so we came in to color correct. 19 years later and it still looks great!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The front of the Pennsylvania house from the lawn in 2019, its brick an even red and salmon range across both storeys under the twin front gables.

Bringing Dark Red Brick to a Soft Salmon in Pennsylvania
The gable end of the house in 2019 from the poolside, the stone chimney and the stone base course carrying one range of tan, gray and brown against gray stucco

Darkening Manufactured Stone Corners on a Grand Rapids Home
The whole front of the house from the driveway in 2019, the arched entry in the middle and a covered porch and balcony to the right, all in one red brick range

Matching the Entry Pillars on an Illinois Two Story Home

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