The end wall of the university building in 2019, seen from an angle at dusk, brown brick running to a lit glass stair bay
Case File 318

Matching Restoration Brick to Old on a Kent University Wall

A restoration put new brick into the walls of a university building in Kent, Ohio. The contractor found the best match possible and the university wanted closer, so the contractor had all of the brick stained to one range. It was photographed again ten years later and certified then.

Case No. 318
Structure University building
Location Kent, Ohio
Stained August 2009
Re-photographed October 2019
Elapsed 10 years, Silver level

2009

  1. A section of wall beside a concrete pier in 2009, the upper courses of brick a lighter and pinker tone than the courses below, with a camera date of 08/11/2009 Before, 2009 View this photo larger
  2. The stepped upper stories of the building in 2009, tan and orange blended brick over a flat roof with a service door, a roof ladder and a vent During, 2009 View this photo larger

What was wrong

New brick had gone into old walls. Nothing had failed. In the file's words, the contractor found the best match possible, and the university wanted a closer one. On a wall this plain there is nowhere for a range like that to hide, and the contractor, not the university, hired the correction.

What was done

Mineral stain. The file records the scope in five words: we stained 100% of the brick. Rather than chase the old color on the new units alone, the whole wall was taken to one range, so old brick and new read together.

2019, ten years on

  1. The end wall of the university building in 2019, seen from an angle at dusk, brown brick running to a lit glass stair bay with ivy on the pier beside it 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The full end wall in 2019, one even brown across every course, with the certification stamp in the corner and the lit glass bay at the right After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. Looking up at the building in 2019, tall concrete-framed window slots set into a plain brown brick wall under a grey sky 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The upper facade in 2019, three bays of concrete window fins stepping along an even brown brick wall 10 Years After View this photo larger

What ten years prove

One range across the wall, no line where the new units meet the old. On the certification scale that is Silver, which starts at ten years. The storyline on the form is the plainest sentence in the file: we can always make a better match, we never say perfect but we shoot for good or great. As of 2026 the work is seventeen 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 318, 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 318, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
University Restoration Kent, OH (2009)
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
The mason or contractor
Reason for project
Other
Issue
"The contractor found the best match possible but the university wanted a closer match."
What was corrected
"We stained 100% of the brick."
Storyline
"We can always make a better match, we never say perfect but we shoot for good or great."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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