A long brick wall of the Michigan ranch house in 2019, its color even along the full run under a low hipped roof
Case File 170

Repairing Power Wash Damage on a Michigan Ranch House

Power washing had pulled the color out of this brick in patches. The damaged areas were color enhanced rather than left to weather back in on their own. The house was photographed again fifteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 170
Structure Single-story brick ranch
Location Michigan
Stained July 2004
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 15 years, Gold level

2004

  1. The garage end of the house in 2004, the new brick marked with pale washed-out patches where power washing had pulled the color out Before, 2004 View this photo larger
  2. A long side wall of the house in 2004 with the yard still bare, pale blotches spreading across the brick above the block foundation Before, 2004 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Washing had pulled the color out of the brick in patches. The file puts it in eight words: they had power wash damage in several areas. In the 2004 frames the blotches read as pale clouds across a wall that was otherwise brand new.

What was done

Mineral stain, worked into the affected units by hand. Not a coat over the whole wall: the file calls it color enhancing the damaged spots, so the correction went where the washing had reached and stopped at the brick around it.

2019, fifteen years on

  1. A long wall of the house in 2019 under a low hipped roof, the brick one even red range beside a stamped concrete walkway 2019 View this photo larger
  2. A wall of the house in 2019 with afternoon sun raking across it, the brick an even red and grey range above a shrub bed 15 Years After View this photo larger
  3. An outside corner of the house beside the garage door in 2019, a carriage lantern on the brick and the color consistent across both faces 2019 View this photo larger
  4. A side elevation of the house in 2019 seen along the wall, the brick even in color from the basement windows up to the eaves 2019 View this photo larger
  5. Close view of the brick in 2019, individual units in mixed reds and browns with pale mortar joints, even in color across the face 2019 View this photo larger

What fifteen years prove

Same brick, photographed again in 2019. The corrected areas do not read as repairs, and at unit scale the color sits in the brick rather than on it. On the certification scale fifteen years and over is Gold. As of 2026 the work is twenty-two 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 170, 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 170, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Michigan Residence (2004)
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
Other. The homeowner, mason, brick manufacturer and distributor boxes are all unmarked.
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"They had power wash damage in several areas."
What was corrected
"We color enhanced the damaged spots."
Storyline
"15 years later, doesn't this project look great! You wouldn't have known the brick were damaged and then corrected!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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