Red brick piers and cast stone panels of geometric ornament on the hospital's upper floors in 2019
Case File 278

Staining Repair Brick Into Range on a Michigan Hospital

Areas of this hospital's brickwork had been repaired, and the replacement brick did not match the wall. The mason contractor who made the repairs paid to have them stained into the range. It was photographed again eleven years later and certified then.

Case No. 278
Structure Hospital
Location Michigan
Stained 2008
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 11 years, Silver level

2008

  1. Brick piers on the hospital in 2008, with a marker circle drawn around a band of replacement brick that reads lighter than the wall around it Before, 2008 View this photo larger
  2. A stretch of hospital wall between two windows in 2008, a marker circle around a course of replacement brick that does not agree with its surroundings Before, 2008 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Areas of the wall had been repaired, and the replacement brick did not agree with the brick around it. The circles on the 2008 frames are where. The file puts the problem in one line: the customer wanted a better matching brick for the building.

It was hired by the mason contractor, not the owner and not the brick manufacturer. The contractor who made the repairs paid to have them matched.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, on the repairs only. Not the elevation, and not a coating over the whole wall. The file records the scope in five words: we stained the repaired areas.

2019, eleven years on

  1. The upper floors of the hospital in 2019, red brick piers stepping past cast stone panels of geometric ornament under a clear sky 2019 View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner of the hospital in 2019, tree shadows falling across red brick piers and cast stone banding 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The same brick piers in 2019, the stained repair band sitting in the range of the brick around it, with the certification stamp at the lower corner 11 Years After View this photo larger
  4. Two windows set in the hospital's brickwork in 2019, cast stone sills and heads against a wall of red and purple brick 2019 View this photo larger

What eleven years prove

Same piers, and the stained repairs still sit in the range of the brick around them. On the certification scale that is Silver, which covers ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is eighteen 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 278, 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 278, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
MI Hospital (2008)
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
Mason or contractor
Reason for project
Other. The form's four named reasons are complaint or problem, addition or makeover, color change and other; the X is against other.
Issue
"The customer wanted a better matching brick for the building."
What was corrected
"We stained the repaired areas."
Storyline
"We helped a mason contractor make the repairs look even better by staining them for a closer match. The stain is still holding up great!"
Address
Left blank, printed "Permission needed to release address."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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