The stained wall of a school addition in 2019, dark units scattered through the brick below a flat roofline
Case File 023

Adding Darks to a Bland School Addition Wall

The brick on this school addition went up plainer than the building it was joined to. About five percent of it was taken to darks in a single day on site. It was photographed again and certified sixteen years later.

Case No. 023
Structure School
Location Indiana
Stained April 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. A new school wing in one flat range of brick, standing in front of a taller older block whose brick carries scattered dark units, with a scissor lift and a pile of sand at the corner Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. The same school wing later the same day, dark units now scattered across the whole wall in the pattern the older block behind it already had After, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The addition went up in one flat range. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the wall was simply plainer than the building it was joined to. The file puts it in nine words: the wall was too bland for the school's liking.

The Hired by box is marked Other. Not the school, not the architect, not the mason. The storyline says why: staining was an afterthought here and no money had been budgeted for it.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Not a color over the wall: about five percent of the units on the addition were taken to darks, which is the scope the architect asked for. One day on site.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The same wall of the addition in 2019 with the Brickman certified stamp across the corner of the frame, dark units still scattered through the brick 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The corner of the addition seen across the parking lot in 2019, with a mature tree beside it and stadium lights standing beyond 2019 View this photo larger
  3. Two blank brick walls of the school meeting at a step in the plan in 2019, a walkway running between them past a door number plate 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the addition's brick in 2019, individual dark units reading at unit scale against the lighter units around them 16 Years After View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same wall, photographed again in 2019 and signed off that year. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the darks are twenty-three years old.

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 023, 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 023, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
JT School (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
Other
Reason for project
Addition or makeover
Issue
"The wall was to “bland” for the schools liking."
What was corrected
"The architect only wanted us to add about 5% darks to the addition."
Storyline
"We were an after thought on this project, no money was budgeted for staining. We were only hired to come out for a day and add a small percentage of darks. Still looks great!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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