An outside corner of the office in 2019, the blended brick running as one range across both faces under a clear sky
Case File 277

Blending a Two Story Michigan Office Brick Range

The brick on this two-story office went up with off-colored units scattered through the range. The company that made the brick paid to have it blended rather than replaced. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 277
Structure Two-story office
Location Michigan
Stained 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. A two-story office elevation in 2003, its brick running through mismatched tan, orange and pink units across every course Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. The outside corner of the same office in 2003 seen from below, the brick uneven in color between the upper and lower bands During, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The brick went up with off-color units scattered through it. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the wall did not read as one range. The file puts it in eight words: there were off-colored brick throughout the range.

The brick manufacturer hired the work, not the owner and not the mason. The company that supplied the brick treated the finished wall as its own account and paid to correct it in place rather than tear it off.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Not one color over the whole elevation: several stains were mixed so the off-color units fell back into the range around them. The phrase in the file is a well blended range.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The office corner in 2019 under a clear sky, the brick reading as one even red and tan range across both faces 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The office from the car park in 2019, its brick one consistent range across both storeys, with a bare tree standing in front of the glazing 16 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The top of a blended brick wall against a deep blue sky, red, tan and grey units mixed evenly below the stone coping 2019 View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same building, same street number over the door, and a range that still reads as one wall. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-three 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 277, 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 277, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
MI Commercial Building (2003)
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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"There were off-colored brick throughout the range."
What was corrected
"We used several different stains to achieve a well blended range."
Storyline
"We created several stains to create the best blend for the wall. 16 years later the brick still looks great."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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