The long back wall of the orthopedics office in 2019, one even range of red brick above a split face block base
Case File 113

Darkening Light Orange Brick on an Indiana Medical Office

The owners did not want the light orange brick in the back wall of this two-story medical office. More than a thousand units were darkened to a red that matched the rest, paid for by the company that made the brick. It was photographed again nineteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 113
Structure Two-story orthopedics office
Location Indiana
Stained May 2000
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 19 years, Gold level

2000

  1. Three ladders against the corner of the two-story office in 2000, an applicator at work on the dark red brick above a row of parking signs During, 2000 View this photo larger
  2. An applicator on a ladder brushing stain onto single bricks in a wall panel, lighter orange units scattered through the red around them During, 2000 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The brick came out of the kiln in more than one color and the owners did not want the light orange one. The file counts them: over 1,000 light orange brick in the back wall.

It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the owner and not the mason. A brick company treated the color of a finished building it had supplied as its own problem.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit, off ladders. Only the off-color units were touched. The phrase in the file is short: we darkened the light orange brick to a darker red color.

2019, nineteen years on

  1. The back wall seen down its length from the car park in 2019, its brick one even red range above a split face block base 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The same elevation in 2019 with reserved parking signs along the block base, the brick reading as one consistent red at distance 19 Years After View this photo larger
  3. Ground floor windows with cast stone sills set in even red brick under a soldier course, a tree shading the corner beyond 2019 View this photo larger

What nineteen years prove

Same wall, same elevation, and the corrected units still sit inside the range of the brick around them. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-six 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 113, 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 113, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Orthopedics Office (2000)
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
"The owners did not like the light orange brick in the wall."
What was corrected
"We darkened the light orange brick to a darker red color."
Storyline
"The back wall had over 1,000 light orange brick that needed color correcting. 19 years later, it still looks great today."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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