The front wall of a school in 2019, brick running between two carved stone bands
Case File 013

Darkening Light Brick in the Range on a LaPorte School

The brick range on this school went up with too many light units in it. The company that made the brick paid for a single day of staining to darken the light spots. It was photographed again and certified twenty years later.

Case No. 013
Structure School
Location LaPorte, Indiana
Stained August 1999
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 20 years, Platinum level

1999

  1. A new low school wing in pale tan brick standing in front of a taller block in darker brown brick, on bare graded ground Before, 1999 View this photo larger
  2. A ladder standing against the school's new brick entrance canopy, the brick range running from dark brown to near cream During, 1999 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Too many light and white brick in the range. The file puts it in nine words: brick that did not belong in the range. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The units did not agree with each other.

It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the school and not the mason. The company that supplied the brick treated the color of a finished building as its own problem and paid to correct it.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, darkening the light units into the range of the ones around them. The file records the scope plainly: one day, exterior spots only, as many as could be corrected in that time. Nothing inside the school was stained.

2019, twenty years on

  1. The school's front elevation in 2019, the brick reading as one range across the wall between two carved stone bands lettered Lincoln and School 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The school seen from the street corner in 2019, with the United States and Indiana flags on a pole at the entrance 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The school entrance in 2019 with the Brickman certified stamp across the corner of the frame, the brick an even blend of browns and reds After, 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the school's entrance bay in 2019, the individual brick units reading dark brown and red with scattered lighter ones among them 20 Years After View this photo larger

What twenty years prove

Same school, photographed again in 2019 and signed off that year. On the certification scale that is Platinum, the top of the four bands, which covers twenty years and over.

The file does not claim the wall is untouched. The brick has a sand texture, and where that texture has worn off since it exposes the body color underneath, leaving new light spots the file says could be corrected the same way. As of 2026 the stained spots are twenty-seven 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 013, 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 013, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
School in LaPorte (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
"Too many light/white brick that did not belong in the range."
What was corrected
"We darkened most of the light spots. We were hired for only 1 day to correct as many spots as possible (in that time period)."
Storyline
"There were too many white brick in the range. We were not hired to stain inside the school, just the exterior spots. The brick on the school have a sand texture, and you can see that texture is coming off in different spots around the school. When the sand texture comes off, it exposes the body color of the brick. If the school would like, they could also now hire us to come out and fix those new spots. 20 years later, the staining still looks great today!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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