The rear elevation of the Michigan university building in 2019, windows and louvered vents set in one range of red brick
Case File 087

Tightening the Color Range on a Michigan University

The brick on a university building went up in too wide a color range. The university had it darkened and tightened in 2000. It was photographed again in 2019 and certified Platinum in 2020.

Case No. 087
Structure University building
Location Michigan
Stained 2000
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 19 years, Platinum level

2000

  1. An outside corner of the university building in 2000, the brick running from pale tan to dark red in patches, with a louvered vent on the left face and an older stone-trimmed building behind Before, 2000 View this photo larger
  2. Three applicators on extension ladders working across the rear elevation of the university building in 2000, the upper brick still pale above the darker lower courses During, 2000 View this photo larger
  3. A wall of the university building in 2000 partway through the work, the lower courses darkened to one range and the upper courses still pale, with a ladder against the left side During, 2000 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file puts it in one line: there was too much of a color range. The brick on this rear wing ran from pale tan to dark red, patch by patch, beside older university buildings that did not. The form is careful on the point: the job was not hired to match a specific color. The university wanted a tighter, darker range, and the university paid for it.

What was done

Multiple recipes, to better match the other university buildings. The booklet's evidence pages add the method: the light brick was darkened, each unit stained individually with a custom blend, so the range closed course by course rather than the wall going one flat color. The During frames show the join: darkened courses below, the pale range still above them.

2019, nineteen years on

  1. The rear elevation of the university building in 2019, two rows of windows and louvered vents in one range of red brick above a loading dock door, with the older brick building rising behind it After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The same outside corner in 2019, the brick reading as one darker red range across both faces beside the louvered vent After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The upper wall above the loading dock in 2019, two windows and two louvered vents set in brick that reads as one range After, 2019 View this photo larger

What nineteen years prove

One range across the corner and the loading dock elevation. The note in the file on the 2019 frames reads no fading, blistering, cracking or peeling. The form is marked Platinum, twenty years and over on the certification scale: the photographs are from 2019 and the form was signed in 2020, twenty years after the work.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed when someone goes back to the building. This is the one for case 087, transcribed beside it so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 087, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
University in Michigan (2000)
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 school or university
Reason for project
Addition or makeover
Background
"There was too much of a color range."
Actions taken
"We used multiple recipes to try to better match the other university buildings."
Detail of events
"We weren't hired to match a specific color, but the university wanted a tighter, darker color range."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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