The brick gable of the Michigan house in 2019, an even red and brown range around an arched window with a cast stone surround
Case File 221

Restoring Spray Wash Damage on a Michigan Home

A spray wash took the surface off parts of the brick on this house. The damaged brick was stained back to the color of the wall around it in 1996. It was photographed again twenty-three years later and certified then.

Case No. 221
Structure Two-story home
Location Michigan
Stained 1996
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 23 years, Platinum level

1996

  1. A two-story brick wall in 1996, the units a pale washed out cream and tan with patchy lighter areas, windows still carrying their maker's labels Before, 1996 View this photo larger
  2. The gable end of the same house in 1996, its brick a warm orange tan, cast stone blocks set in the gable field above an arched window group, with graded soil and a pickup truck at the foot of the wall During, 1996 View this photo larger

What was wrong

A spray wash took the face off parts of the brick. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The file records spray wash damage on the building, and says the wand had removed the surface of the brick in some areas. It was the brick distributor who hired the job, and the reason on the file is a complaint.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand. The file is plain about the scope, that a lot of the areas on the house were stained, and about the aim, matching the damaged brick to the brick around it. The 1996 frames are of a house still being finished, with the window labels on the glass and the ground not yet graded.

2019, twenty-three years on

  1. The same gable end in 2019, the brick an even red and brown range, with cast stone blocks in the gable field, quoins at the corners and an arched window group below 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The gabled entry porch from below in 2019, a brick arch on cast stone piers with soffit lights either side and even red brick above 23 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The front door in 2019 with a leaded glass sidelight, a stone urn beside it and the brick reveal and outside corner running past in one red and brown range, the certification stamp printed at the corner of the frame 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the brick beside a coach lantern in 2019, individual units running through red, brown, grey and cream with pale mortar joints and a soldier course above 2019 View this photo larger
  5. A service door between two garage bays in 2019, a lantern on each side and the brick pier and arched heads reading as one red and brown range 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty-three years prove

Same house, same gable, and a wall that reads as one range from the drive. The file's own closing line is that the house still looks great 23 years later. On the certification scale twenty years and over is Platinum, which is what was marked in 2019. As of 2026 the work is thirty 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 221, 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 221, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Spray Wash Damage MI (1996)
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 distributor
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"There was spray wash damage on the building."
What was corrected
"We stained a lot of the areas on the house."
Storyline
"On some areas of the building the wand damage removed the surface of the brick but we stained the brick to match to the best of our ability. We were very successful in color enhancing and the house still looks great 23 years later!"
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The house from the front lawn in 2019, the brick reading as one even red range across the two-story block and the garage wing.

Darkening Light Brick on a Romeo Michigan Home
The front of the single-story house in 2019, red brick across both gables and the garage wing under a low grey roof

Toning Down Red Showing Through a Macomb Home
The arched brick entry and gable of a Brighton, Michigan house in 2019, a herringbone panel under the bay window and mature planting either side of the step

Toning Down Bright White Brick on a Brighton Home

Your Project, Documented for Decades

Every job we stain enters the same discipline: photographed, revisited, re-photographed.

Request a Quote
Call Us Request a Quote