A high brick wall on the hospital in 2007 with the work finished, light units blended into the red and purple range around them
Case File 165

Darkening Light Units on a Lansing Michigan Hospital

The brick on this hospital had too many light units that did not match the range it was laid in. The brick manufacturer paid to have them darkened rather than replaced, and the walls were photographed again nine years later.

Case No. 165
Structure Hospital
Location Lansing, Michigan
Stained 2007
Re-photographed 2016
Elapsed 9 years, Silver level

2007

  1. The top of the hospital's brick wall during the 2007 work, seen from the ground against open sky, with darker units scattered through the range below the coping During, 2007 View this photo larger
  2. A high brick wall on the hospital in 2007 with the work finished, photographed from the scaffold in evening light, the blended range running unbroken across the face After, 2007 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file records the issue in one line. They had too many light brick that did not match in the range. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The units were lighter than the wall they were laid into.

It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the hospital and not the mason. The company that made the brick treated the colour of a finished building as its own problem and paid for staining over tear-out.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand. The correction on the form reads: we darkened the light brick in several areas on the hospital. The file is candid about the starting point. Some areas were worse than others.

2016, nine years on

  1. The hospital tower in 2016, its brick piers running the full height of the building between bays of dark glass 2016 View this photo larger
  2. The hospital's brick and precast parking deck from the street in 2016, with the ambulance entry at the ground floor 2016 View this photo larger
  3. Two storeys of the hospital's brick wall beside a plant room door in 2016, the darker units reading as part of the range rather than as patches 9 Years After View this photo larger
  4. A close view of five stained brick in 2016, the speckled faces and the sand mortar joints between them 2016 View this photo larger

What nine years show

Same walls, photographed again in 2016 and certified in 2019. The phrase in the file is that it still looks great today. On the certification scale that is Silver, counted to the 2019 signature rather than to the 2016 photographs. As of 2026 the work is nineteen 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 165, 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 165, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Hospital in Michigan (2007)
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 brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"They had too many light brick that did not match in the range."
What was corrected
"We darkened the light brick in several areas on the hospital."
Storyline
"Some areas were worse than others, but we were still very successful. Still looks great today!"
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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