The business center in 2019, red brick with limestone quoins and a pale soldier course running below the windows
Case File 055

Staining a Soldier Band to Match Limestone in Illinois

The soldier course on this business center did not match the limestone it runs into. The mason hired the color change, and only that one band of brick was stained. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 055
Structure Business center, now a Vet Center
Location Illinois
Stained August 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. A wall of the business center in 2003, the course of upright brick at sill height reading a light orange against the cream limestone blocks beside it Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. The arched glass entrance in 2003, the soldier course below the windows reading as pale stone against the same cream limestone 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The soldier course, the band of upright brick at sill height, came out a color that did not agree with the limestone it meets at every quoin. The file puts the request in one line: they wanted to change the soldier band to match the limestone.

It was hired by the mason, and the reason on the form is a color change, not a complaint.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand. The file records one hundred percent of the soldier band brick stained, and nothing else on the building touched. The red field, the limestone quoins and the sills stayed as laid.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The long elevation seen from the lawn in 2019, red brick with limestone quoins and a pale soldier course running below the windows to the gable end 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The entrance in 2019 under a Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center sign, the pale soldier course running below the window to the right 16 Years After View this photo larger
  3. A row of windows along the parking lot side in 2019, the soldier course reading as one continuous pale band below the sills 2019 View this photo larger
  4. An outside corner in 2019 with stacked limestone quoins, the pale soldier course carrying around both faces into low sun 2019 View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same band, same limestone beside 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 055, 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 055, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Illinois Business Center (Now VA) 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 mason or contractor
Reason for project
Color change
Issue
"They wanted to change the soldier band to match the limestone."
What was corrected
"We stained 100% of the soldier band brick."
Storyline
"We stained the soldier brick to match the limestone. We did not touch any of the other brick on the building. 16 years later, the soldier band still looks great!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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