The church's drive-through entrance canopy in 2019, carried on brick columns that read with the walls behind them
Case File 106

Matching New Columns to an Older Michigan Church

The columns under this church's entrance canopy went up in brick that did not match the walls around them. The mason and contractor who hired the job paid to have those columns stained rather than rebuilt. They were photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 106
Structure Church, entrance canopy
Location Michigan
Stained March 2001
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Gold level

2001

  1. An applicator on a ladder working stain into a brick column under the entrance canopy, the columns reading lighter and redder than the wall behind them During, 2001 View this photo larger
  2. Close view of the stained brick in 2001, the units running through brown, grey and dull red against pale mortar joints, with a film date stamp in the bottom corner After, 2001 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The columns carrying the entrance canopy were new, and their brick did not agree with the walls they stood against. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The file puts it in six words: the new columns did not match.

It was hired by the mason and contractor, not the owner and not the architect. The trade that laid the columns paid to bring them into line rather than take them down.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit, on the columns only. The walls were left as they were and the new work was brought to them. The phrase in the file is stained the columns to create a better match.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The drive-through entrance canopy from the driveway in 2019, its brick columns reading with the walls behind them as one blend 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The church entrance in 2019, a canopy column standing against the long brick wall that runs to the glass doors, the Brickman certified stamp in the bottom corner of the frame 18 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The side wall and entrance canopy from the drive in 2019, the wall and the canopy columns in one brown and red brick range under a dark fascia 2019 View this photo larger
  4. A canopy column at close range in 2019, its brick blended through red and brown on both faces, with the glass entrance doors beyond 2019 View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

Same columns, same canopy, and a blend that still reads with the walls it was matched to. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. The note on the form is plainer: the stain has held up great for 18 years. 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 106, 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 106, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Church in MI (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
Mason or contractor
Reason for project
Addition or makeover
Issue
"The new columns did not match."
What was corrected
"We stained the columns to create a better match."
Storyline
"We did not have great before/after photos on this project, but nevertheless, the stain has held up great for 18 years (and counting)."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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