The wall of the Michigan office in 2019, a band of darker brick running the length of it toward an outside corner
Case File 133

Darkening a Band of Brick Around a Michigan Office

The owner of this office wanted the brick to carry more character than it had. A band of it was darkened in 2001. The building was photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 133
Structure Single-story office
Location Michigan
Stained 2001
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Gold level

2001

  1. The office in 2001 before the work, one flat buff tan brick running across the end wall and the wing beyond it, the site newly planted with staked trees and bare soil Before, 2001 View this photo larger
  2. The same office later in 2001, the end wall and the return past the corner now reading dark brown under the roofline After, 2001 View this photo larger

What was wanted

No complaint and no failure on this one. The box marked under Reason for project is color change, and the Issues line reads: the building owner wanted to make a subtle change to the building to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Hired by reads business or corporation, so the owner paid for it.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand, and not across the whole wall. The file gives the scope in one line: 2 courses of brick in the middle of the wall, darkened around the building, to give it more character. The brick above and below the band is as it was laid.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The wall in 2019 running away to an outside corner, a band of darker brick carrying round the corner above lighter buff courses, the entrance canopy in the distance and the certification stamp at the corner of the frame 18 Years After View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

Same building, same band, still reading dark against the lighter brick under it. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-five 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 133, 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 133, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Office in Michigan (2001)
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
Business or corporation
Reason for project
Color change
Issue
"The building owner wanted to make a subtle change to the building to make it more aesthetically pleasing."
What was corrected
"We darkened a band of brick around the building."
Storyline
"We darkened 2 courses of brick in the middle of the wall to give the building more character."
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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