The brick front of a two-story home in 2019, an even orange and red range running across the entry and the window bays
Case File 157

Color Correcting Power Washed Brick on a Murrysville Home

Power washing had pulled the color out of the brick on this two-story home in patches. The mason hired the correction rather than the homeowner, the washed areas were color corrected in 2000, and the house was photographed again nineteen years later.

Case No. 157
Structure Two-story brick home
Location Murrysville, Pennsylvania
Stained October 2000
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 19 years, Gold level

2000

  1. A rectangle masked off with tape on the brick wall of the house in 2000, the brick around it blotched pale pink and grey where it had been washed Before, 2000 View this photo larger
  2. The rear of the house beside its deck stair in October 2000 with the work finished, the brick an even dark red across the wall and the gable After, 2000 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Power washing had taken the color out of the face of the brick, in patches, across large parts of the house. The file puts it in eight words: this house was damaged pretty badly by powerwashing. The mason hired the correction, not the homeowner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed into the brick by hand, on the washed areas rather than over the whole wall. The file records it as color correcting the areas of the house damaged via powerwashing, which is the harder version of the job: every corrected patch has to land on the color of the brick beside it.

2019, nineteen years on

  1. The front of the house from the lawn in 2019, the brick reading as one orange and red range from the entry across to the far window bay 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The garage end of the house above its paved drive in 2019, three storeys of brick carrying one even range up to the arched window 19 Years After View this photo larger
  3. A garage bay and the low brick garden wall running away from it in 2019, both reading as the same orange and buff mix 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The soldier course of upright brick over a garage opening in 2019, a coach lamp on the pier beside it and tree shadow across the wall 2019 View this photo larger
  5. Close view of the brick in 2019 between two windows, bands of upright units running through orange, buff and dark brown with pale mortar joints 2019 View this photo larger

What nineteen years prove

The revisit could only reach what is visible from public areas, because the homeowners were out on the day. The mark on the form is Gold, which the certification scale sets at fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-six 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 house. This is the one for case 157, 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 157, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Murrysville Residence (2000). The form names no state on this line.
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 mason or contractor
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"This house was damaged pretty badly by powerwashing."
What was corrected
"We color corrected the areas of the house damaged via powerwashing."
Storyline
"The homeowners were not home when we revisted this project in 2019, so we could not take pictures of the back of the house. We took pictures of what we could from public areas. We color enhanced all of the power washed areas 19 years ago, and it still looks great today!"
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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