The brick front of the Lake Orion house in 2019, an arched window over the entry and one even red range across the wall
Case File 092

Selective Staining on a Lake Orion Michigan Home

Off-colored brick ran throughout this house when it was new. The brick manufacturer hired the correction: select units were lightened, others darkened, and the rest of the wall left alone. It was photographed again twenty years later and certified Platinum.

Case No. 092
Structure Two-story house
Location Lake Orion, Michigan
Stained November 1999
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 20 years, Platinum level

1999

  1. An applicator on an extension ladder in 1999, working stain into the brick of a side wall below a band of siding, a window to the right and a camera date in the corner During, 1999 View this photo larger
  2. The applicator on the ladder in 1999 seen from the drive, staining brick beside a basement window well, the wall a mix of dark and pale units During, 1999 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file gives it one line: off-colored brick throughout the house. The range had come out too wide, some units running dark and others light against the body of the wall. Nothing had failed. The brick manufacturer, not the homeowner, hired the correction.

What was done

Select brick were lightened, others darkened, for an overall better match, and the units that already sat in range were left untouched. The file calls this selective staining, or surgical staining: choosing specific brick so the blend closes without recoloring the whole elevation. The 1999 frames show it done from a ladder, one unit at a time.

2019, twenty years on

  1. The front entrance of the two-story house in 2019, red brick running evenly around a tall arched window over the door, with shrubs and two iron chairs in front After, 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty years prove

One range across the entrance elevation, with no line between the units that were stained and the ones that were not. The note on the file's 2019 frames says it plainly: even after twenty years you would never know the difference between the stained and unstained brick. On the certification scale that is Platinum, twenty years and over. The form was signed in 2020.

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 092, transcribed beside the form page so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 092, filled in and signed, rendered from the case booklet View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Lake Orion, MI (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
"Off-colored brick throughout the house."
What was corrected
"Lightened and darkened select brick for an overall better match."
Storyline
"This is what we call 'selective staining' or 'surgical staining'. We chose specific brick to stain for a blend that still looks great today."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020. Address: release permission required.
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