The brick stair tower and adjoining wing of Neff Hall in 2019, the brick reading as one red and brown range
Case File 196

Matching a Repaired Wall at Neff Hall in Fort Wayne

A repair to this building went in at a different color from the wall around it. The mason who owned the repair paid to have the repaired brick and mortar stained to match. It was photographed again twelve years later and certified then.

Case No. 196
Structure University building
Location Fort Wayne, Indiana
Stained 2007
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 12 years, Silver level

2007

  1. Roof level of the building in 2007, a block of pale buff brick set into walls of red and brown brick Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  2. An applicator on an extension ladder working stain into single bricks at an outside corner of the building During, 2007 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The brick had already been repaired once, and the repair did not match. The file puts it in eleven words: the repair done on this building was not a good match. The 2007 frame shows what that meant at roof level, a block of pale buff brick set into walls of red and brown.

It was hired by the mason contractor, not the university. The trade that owned the repair paid to correct its color rather than take the brick back out.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, over the repaired units and the mortar with them. The file records it in seven words: we stained the repaired brick and mortar.

2019, twelve years on

  1. Neff Hall from its courtyard walk in 2019, a brick stair tower carrying the building sign between two rendered wings 2019 View this photo larger
  2. A tall blank elevation in 2019 seen from the ground, the brick an even red brown across the whole face 12 Years After View this photo larger
  3. Another windowless brick face of the building in 2019, its courses running unbroken to the coping 2019 View this photo larger

What twelve years prove

The repaired area still sits inside the range of the wall around it, with no seam returning at distance. On the certification scale that is Silver, which covers ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is nineteen years old, and the 2019 certification is the most recent record on it.

The file is unusually candid about the ceiling on the result: no longer an eye sore, but not as great as it could have been if the customer would have allowed a few more days of work.

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 196, 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 196, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Hall University (2007)
Level
Silver. 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 contractor
Reason for project
Other
Issue
"The repair done on this building was not a good match."
What was corrected
"We stained the repaired brick and mortar."
Storyline
"This building is no longer an eye sore like it was, however, it is not as great as it could have been if the customer would have allowed us a few more days of work to add enhancements and add a few more dark shades."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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