The Hillsboro house from the driveway in 2019, the garage wall and the long brick wing reading as one range
Case File 191

Lightening Dark Brick Into Range on a Hillsboro Home

This house had dark brick scattered right through the walls, and washing it left the owners unhappy with how it looked. The company that made the brick paid to have the dark units lightened into the range. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 191
Structure Single-story house
Location Hillsboro, Ohio
Stained November 2003
Re-photographed September 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. An applicator on a ladder working across the gable beside the garage door, the brick a mottled orange and tan with dark units through it During, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. A side wall of the house in 2003, dark brick running in patches under the window head and along the courses beside it During, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Dark brick, in patches, all over the house. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The file puts it in one line: there were areas of unacceptable dark brick throughout the house. The owners had washed the brick first, and by the storyline they hated the way the house looked afterwards.

It was hired by the company that made the brick, not by the owners and not by the mason.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit, off a ladder. Not one color over the whole wall: the dark units were lightened until they sat inside the range of the brick around them. The phrase in the file is lighten the dark brick to better fit the range.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The house from the driveway in 2019, the garage wall and the wing beyond it reading as one red and tan range at distance 2019 View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner of the garage in 2019, a carriage lamp on the pier and the brick evenly ranged across both faces 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The gable wall in 2019 seen from below, an octagonal louvre vent set in brick that reads as one range up to the raking eave 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The gable end in 2019, two shuttered windows in brick that runs as one pink, tan and cream range, with the certification stamp at the corner 16 Years After View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same house, and brick that still sits in one range with no dark patches back in it. 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 191, 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 191, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Prouty Hillsboro (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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"There were areas of unacceptable dark brick throughout the house."
What was corrected
"We were able to lighten the dark brick to better fit the range."
Storyline
"The homeowners hated the way their home looked after washing their brick. However, they loved it when we were finished."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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