The stained elevation of the Indiana church in 2019, its brick reading as one even red and grey blend
Case File 125

Blending a Blotchy Elevation on an Indiana Church

One elevation of this church went up blotchy. The company that made the brick paid to have it blended rather than torn off. It was photographed again twenty years later and certified then.

Case No. 125
Structure Church
Location Indiana
Stained May 1999
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 20 years, Platinum level

1999

  1. The long side elevation of the church in 1999, the brick a dark uneven maroon and brown under a shallow sloping roof, with a camera date stamp at the foot of the wall During, 1999 View this photo larger
  2. The stained wall in 1999 either side of a vertical control joint, the brick a worked blend of reds, tans and dark greys under pale mortar After, 1999 View this photo larger

What was wrong

One elevation went up blotchy. The file puts the complaint in three words: terrible blotchy walls. The brick itself was sound; the units simply did not agree with each other across the wall.

It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the congregation and not the mason. The company that made the brick treated the color of a finished wall as its own problem, and paid to correct it rather than see it torn off.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand, unit by unit. Not one color over the whole wall: the file records several colors used to create an acceptable blend, which is why the finished elevation still reads as a range of reds and greys. The file is specific that this one elevation was stained and no other.

2019, twenty years on

  1. The same elevation in 2019 seen from the car park, the brick reading as one even red and grey blend from the eaves down to the gravel bed, a green service door at its foot and a mature tree at the far corner 2019 View this photo larger
  2. Close view of the blended wall in 2019, courses of red, brown and near-black units running past a pale vertical joint 20 Years After View this photo larger
  3. Three brick units filling the frame in 2019, their faces mottled red and brown with sand-textured mortar joints between them 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty years prove

Same wall, same service door, same downspout, and a blend that still holds together at arm's length and at distance. On the certification scale that is Platinum, which covers twenty years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-seven 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 125, 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 125, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Church in Indiana (1999)
Level
Platinum. 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
"Terrible blotchy walls."
What was corrected
"We used several colors to create an acceptable blend."
Storyline
"We only stained this one elevation. This wall took great patience and a lot of blending. This project turned out great, and still looks great today!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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