The stained mall wall in 2019, its brick reading as one brown and tan range for the full run of the elevation
Case File 178

Matching an Addition to the Wall at Meridian Mall

An addition of 100,000 modular brick went up against the wall already standing, and the two did not agree. The company that supplied the brick hired the staining rather than have the new work pulled off. It was photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 178
Structure Shopping mall
Location Michigan
Stained 2001
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Gold level

2001

  1. The long anchor store wall in 2001, its darker brick running the length of the elevation to a lighter tan entrance tower and base course at the far end, a store sign fixed high on the wall During, 2001 View this photo larger
  2. The wall at close range in 2001, a band of darker brown brick above and lighter buff panels below and alongside it, the ranges reading as separate colors across the junction During, 2001 View this photo larger

What was wrong

An addition went up against the wall already standing and the new brick did not sit with the old. The file puts the issue in five words: they needed a better match.

The job was hired by the brick distributor, not the mall and not the mason. Belden Brick & Supply supplied the units and then paid to have them stained, which is the file's own account of who did what.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit, across a hundred thousand modular brick. Not one color over the whole elevation: the new units were brought into the range of the wall beside them, which the file calls a better blend.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The mall wall looked along from the service drive in 2019, the brick holding one brown and tan range for the full run of the elevation behind a row of young trees, the frame carrying the Brickman Certified stamp 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The anchor store entrance in 2019, the brick piers either side of the doors and the wall running away to the right holding the same brown and tan range under a cast stone cap 18 Years After View this photo larger
  3. An outside brick corner at close range in 2019, the color sitting in the face of each unit with the fired speckle and the pitting still reading through it, mortar joints clean 2019 View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

The wall was photographed again in 2019 and certified then. Eighteen years puts it in the Gold band, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-five 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 178, 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 178, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Meridian Mall (2001)
Level
Gold. 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
Brick distributor
Reason for project
Addition or makeover
Issue
"They needed a better match."
What was corrected
"Belden Brick & Supply took a great brick and paired it with our proven masonry staining to create a better match."
Storyline
"We stained this 100,000 modular brick addition to create a better blend. 18 years later, it still looks great today!"
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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