An outside corner of the Illinois building in 2019, the upright soldier course brick running down the corner in the same red brown range as the wall
Case File 239

Staining Unfinished Soldier Corners on an Illinois Building

The upright brick running down the outside corners of this building went up unfinished, so the corners did not match the wall they were part of. They were stained in 2007. The building was photographed again twelve years later and certified then.

Case No. 239
Structure Assisted living building
Location Illinois
Stained 2007
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 12 years, Silver level

2007

  1. An outside corner before the work, the upright soldier course carrying one pale peach unit and one raw buff unit against red brown brick, with a mulch bed at the foot of the wall Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  2. A soldier course corner later in 2007, the upright units reading in the red brown range of the wall around them, a meter box and hose bib on the return wall After, 2007 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The wall was fine. The corners were not. The Issues line records that the building did not have finished soldier corner brick, and the Before frame shows what that meant: in the upright course running down an outside corner, one unit is pale peach and one is a raw buff, standing in a red brown wall. Hired by reads mason or contractor, so the trade that laid the brick paid for it.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand, and only where it was needed. The file gives the scope in five words: we stained the soldier corners. The brick either side of them is as it was laid. Reason for project is marked Other, which is neither a complaint nor a color change.

2019, twelve years on

  1. The soldier course corner in 2019, the upright units and the brick on both faces reading as one red brown range, foliage against the wall behind and the certification stamp at the corner of the frame 12 Years After View this photo larger

What twelve years prove

Same detail, and the soldier course still sits in the range of the brick around it rather than in front of it. On the certification scale that is Silver, which covers ten years and over. The closing line on the form, written in 2019, is that the building still looks great twelve years later. 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 239, 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 239, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Assisted Living IL (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
Mason or contractor
Reason for project
Other
Issue
"The building did not have finished solider corner brick."
What was corrected
"We stained the soldier corners."
Storyline
"The brick had different textures but the staining helped to get a closer color match. The building still looks grerat 12 years later."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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