The front entry of the Michigan house in 2019, a tall arched brick recess between two gables with copper roofs over the bay windows
Case File 171

Lightening the Dark Run on a Two Story Michigan House

The brick on this house went up in two runs that did not match. The company that made the brick paid to have the darker run lightened. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 171
Structure Two-story house
Location Michigan
Stained 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. The house under construction in 2003, brick laid up to the open garage bays and the gable end while the upper storey is still bare sheathing, with an applicator kneeling in the garage opening During, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Two runs of brick were mixed into the house. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; one run was simply darker than the other, and it sat on the lower walls. It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the family and not the mason.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand. Only the dark run was touched, lightened in several areas on the lower part of the house until it read with the brick above it. The file calls the result a close match.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The front entry in 2019, a tall round-arched brick recess set between two gables, with copper roofs over the bay windows on either side 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The gable end and attached garage in 2019, the buff brick reading as one range from the garage lintel up to the arched window in the gable 16 Years After View this photo larger
  3. A raking view along the side wall in 2019, the brick an even buff and tan range running back to a soldier course under the eaves 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The outside corner of the gable end in 2019, buff and grey brown brick carrying evenly across both faces beside an arched window 2019 View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same house, same walls, and a lightened run still sitting inside the range of the brick around it. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-three 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 171, 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 171, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Michigan Residence (2003)
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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"Two runs of brick were mixed into the house."
What was corrected
"We lightened the dark run of brick."
Storyline
"We lightened the brick on several areas on the lower part of the house to closely match the upper part of the house. We were able to get a close match. Still looks great 16 years later!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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Every job we stain enters the same discipline: photographed, revisited, re-photographed.

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