The front entry of the Michigan home in 2019, cream columns on stone piers under a gabled porch, the manufactured stone reading as one tan and grey blend
Case File 177

Staining Manufactured Stone to Sample on a Michigan Home

The manufactured stone on this Michigan home went up in stronger colors than the sample the homeowners had approved. The manufacturer paid to have most of it stained to a subtler blend that matched the sample. It was photographed again seven years later and certified.

Case No. 177
Structure Home, manufactured stone veneer
Location Michigan
Stained April 2012
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 7 years, Silver level

2012

  1. The side wall of the house in 2012 before staining, grey siding over a stone veneer base of separate rust, charcoal and cream units, a porch column at the corner and drain pipe on the sand Before, 2012 View this photo larger
  2. The porch corner in April 2012 with two sample boards of the approved stone blend leaning against the unstained wall, a camera date stamp in the corner During, 2012 View this photo larger
  3. The same side wall in 2012 after staining, the stone veneer under the window box now reading as one tan and grey blend, bare soil and a new walk in front After, 2012 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The stone did not match the sample the homeowners had approved. The Before frame shows why the complaint stood: the veneer read as separate blocks of rust, charcoal and cream. The sample boards leaning against the wall in the During frame carry the softer blend that was ordered. The manufacturer hired the correction, not the owner.

What was done

Most of the stone was stained, for what the file calls a more subtle blend that matched the sample. Not all of it: the target was the sample, not one flat color. The After 2012 frame is the same side wall as the Before.

2019, seven years on

  1. Looking up at the front entry in 2019, two cream columns on stone piers under a gabled porch roof, the stone veneer carrying up to the second floor windows in one tan and grey blend 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The whole front of the two-story house in 2019, stone veneer on both gables and the porch piers, dark siding above, a lawn and planted beds in front After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The side wall in 2019, the same window box now planted with flowers, hydrangeas and ornamental grass against the stone veneer base 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The porch corner in 2019, the same wall that held the sample boards in 2012, with a column on a stone pier, a bench, potted flowers and clipped shrubs in front After, 2019 View this photo larger
  5. A porch column on its stone pier in 2019, the tan, brown and grey units of the pier under a cast stone cap, the front door beyond 2019 View this photo larger
  6. The corner of a stone pier at the front door in 2019, seen close, the ledge stone units in tan, brown and grey under a cast stone cap 2019 View this photo larger
  7. Stone veneer at close range on a pier corner in 2019, individual units in tan, buff, brown and grey with their split faces and shadow lines 2019 View this photo larger

What seven years prove

The file is candid that the light differs between the 2012 and 2019 frames, and asks the reader to look closely. Same side wall, same porch corner: the stone still reads as one blend, not the drastic colors it carried before it was stained. Certified Silver on the file in 2020. As of 2026 the work is fourteen years old, and the 2019 photographs are 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 177, transcribed beside the form so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 177, filled in and signed, rendered from the case booklet View the signed form full size
Project name
MFG Stone, Michigan (2012)
Level
Silver. 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 manufacturer (the form's Brick MFG box; on this file, the maker of the manufactured stone)
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Background
"The manufactured stone didn't match the sample that the homeowners had approved."
Actions taken
"We stained most of the stone for a more subtle blend that matched the sample."
Detail of events
"The lighting is a little different but if you look closely, you'll notice that the pictures taken in 2019 are still blended together well, and not drastic colors like they were before they were stained."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020. Address: release permission required.
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