The White Castle elevation in 2019, its white brick and white mortar joints reading as one wall
Case File 169

Mortar Joints Stained White at a Michigan White Castle

The mortar on this new restaurant came out the wrong color against white brick. The joints were stained white in 2010, then photographed again nine years later and certified then.

Case No. 169
Structure Restaurant
Location Michigan
Stained October 2010
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 9 years, Bronze level

2010

  1. An applicator in a Masonry Cosmetics shirt on a ladder working along a white brick wall, the mortar joints in the dark brick banding below already white During, 2010 View this photo larger
  2. The finished restaurant in 2010, its white brick elevation running back from the White Castle sign above two courses of dark brick banding After, 2010 View this photo larger

What was wrong

"The mortar was supposed to be white." That is the issue line on the form in full. The brick was not the problem; the joints between it were, on a building finished in 2010. A business paid for the correction on its own store.

What was done

"We stained the mortar joints white." The stain went into the joints, not across the brick, which is the narrower and the slower of the two jobs.

2019, nine years on

  1. The same elevation in 2019, the white brick and its white mortar joints reading as one wall from the entrance to the far corner 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The top of the wall in 2019 seen from below against a deep blue sky, white brick either side of two courses of red and tan banding 2019 View this photo larger
  3. White brick photographed along the wall in 2019, the mortar joints between the courses the same white as the units 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the white brick at unit scale in 2019, the mortar joints holding their white against the textured faces 9 Years After View this photo larger

What nine years prove

The file is unusually frank about the limit before it makes the claim. "Stain on mortar does not last as long as stain on brick, for many reasons." Then it puts a building against that: nine years, on the mortar alone. On the certification scale nine years is Bronze, which covers seven to nine. As of 2026 the joints are sixteen years old, and the 2019 certification is the most recent record on them.

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 169, 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 169, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
White Castle in Michigan (2010)
Level
Bronze. 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
Addition or makeover
Issue
"The mortar was supposed to be white."
What was corrected
"We stained the mortar joints white."
Storyline
"We often get asked if our stain preforms the same on brick as it does mortar. Stain on mortar does not last as long as stain on brick, for many reasons (and we can explain later). Nevertheless, our product and process is still the best that we know of to use on mortar. Here is a project that has lasted over 9 years on the mortar alone! It looks great!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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