The outside corner of the high school in 2019, tan brick between a grey band and a red brown base, reading as one range on both faces
Case File 085

Darkening Light Brick Areas on a Michigan High School

A few areas of brick on this high school went up too light. The company that made the brick hired the correction in 2002, and the file records it in five words: we darkened the light brick. Photographed again seventeen years later.

Case No. 085
Structure High school
Location Michigan
Stained July 2002
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 17 years, Platinum level

2002

  1. The corner of the high school in 2002, pale yellow green brick above a grey band and a dark brown base, an extension ladder against the wall and a camera date of 7/2/2002 in the corner Before, 2002 View this photo larger
  2. The same corner in 2002 after staining, the upper courses reading as one cream tan range above the grey band and the orange brown base, with a camera date of 7/2/2002 in the corner After, 2002 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file gives it one line: light brick in a few areas of this high school. Nothing had failed; the upper courses of the banded wall came out lighter than the range they were meant to sit in. The brick manufacturer hired the correction, not the school and not the mason.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on. The action line in the file is we darkened the light brick. Both 2002 frames carry the same camera date, 7/2/2002, the ladder still against the wall in one of them.

2019, seventeen years on

  1. The outside corner of the high school in 2019, tan brick between a grey band and a red brown base, a tree at the left and the entrance doors at the right After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The banded wall in 2019 seen square on, tan brick, a grey band and a red brown base, a tree in front and a glazed door at the right 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The main entrance in 2019, three sets of blue doors under a glazed canopy with pendant lights, the banded brick wall running off to the right After, 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The corner in 2019 from under the entrance canopy, a steel column in the foreground and the banded brick wall beyond it 17 Years After View this photo larger

What seventeen years prove

One range across the tan courses, the grey band and the base, from the corner round to the entrance. The detail the file records is about water, not color: the stained brick still gets wet and absorbs moisture like the unstained brick beside it, with no extra maintenance. The file marks it Platinum. As of 2026 the work is twenty-four years old.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed when someone goes back to the building. This is the one for case 085, transcribed beside the scan so a phone and a search engine can read it.

Scan of the case study form for case 085, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
High School, Michigan (2002)
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
Cause
Complaint or problem
Background
"Light brick in a few areas of this high school"
Actions taken
"We darkened the light brick"
Detail of events
"The brick we stained will still get wet like the unstained brick next to it, and absorbs moisture just like unstained brick, requiring no extra maintenance."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020. Address: release permission required.
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