The front gable of the Louisville house in 2019, its brick reading as one varied blend of tan, pink and brown
Case File 062

Blending Blotchy Brick on a Louisville Two Story Home

The brick on this two-story house went up blotchy, and the homeowner wanted all of it torn down. The company that made the brick paid to have it corrected instead, in December 1997. It was photographed again twenty-two years later and certified then.

Case No. 062
Structure Two-story brick home
Location Louisville, Kentucky
Stained December 1997
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1997

  1. The house from the driveway in 1997 before any work, its brick a dark red brown broken up by paler blotches across the gable end Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  2. Two applicators on ladders working across the front of the house in 1997, the brick lighter and more even where they have already passed 1997 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file says it in a sentence: the brick on this house was a mess. It was very blotchy, and the homeowner wanted all of the brick torn down. It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not by the owner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand. Not one color across the wall: the file calls it a finesse project, lightening and darkening different areas to create an acceptable blend. The other option on the table was tearing the brick off a finished house.

2019, twenty-two years on

  1. The front gable of the house in 2019 seen from the pavement, its brick an even blend of tan, pink and brown from the flower beds to the ridge 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The upper gable in 2019 at close range, an arched window with shutters set in blended brick under a soffit and a brick arch head 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The entry of the house in 2019, the arched brick porch, the side wall and the window heads all carrying the same blend 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The rear of the house in 2019 across the back lawn, two storeys of blended brick running the whole elevation above a patio 22 Years After View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

Same house, front and back, twenty-two years apart. The line that matters in the file is about the people rather than the color: they were happy back in 1997, and are still happy in 2019. The mark on the form is Platinum, twenty years and over on the certification scale. As of 2026 the work is twenty-nine 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 062, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 062, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence in Louisville, KY (1997)
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
Issues
"The brick on this house was a mess. It was very blotchy, and the homeowner wanted all of the brick torn down."
What was corrected
"This was a finesse project and we were very successful! Lightening and darkening different areas to create an acceptable blend!"
Storyline
"What a mess! We were able to make the homeowners happy! They were happy back in 1997, and are still happy in 2019! It looks great! We saved the brick mfg from having to tear all the brick down and starting over. That would've been extremely costly!"
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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