The brick of the New Baltimore house in 2019, one tan and buff blend running from the garage door past the tall window
Case File 139

Blending a New Baltimore Home to the Brick Sample

The brick on this new two-story house went up off color and blotchy, and it did not match the sample. The brick manufacturer paid to have the whole house blended rather than rebuilt. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 139
Structure Two-story home
Location New Baltimore, Michigan
Stained November 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

November 2003

  1. The whole front of the new two-story house on 20 November 2003, three brick gables over a bare dirt lot, the brick a patchy mix of light and dark units under a clear sky Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. The same front three days later, the brick reading as one warm tan range across all three gables, the front door still in white primer After, 2003 View this photo larger
  3. The entry gable and the arched window over the door in November 2003, dark units scattered through the pale brick and the sided upper wall of the garage wing at the right Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  4. The entry gable and the arched window after the blend in November 2003, the units now sitting within one range from the ground to the peak After, 2003 View this photo larger
  5. The rear corner of the house on 22 November 2003, dark brick standing out in rows and clusters across the pale wall under the sided upper storey Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  6. Two applicators at the rear wall on 22 November 2003, one on an extension ladder working stain into the dark units by hand and one at the foot of the wall During, 2003 View this photo larger
  7. The three-car garage front in November 2003 with a builder's for sale sign on the wall, dark units clustered at the left corner and scattered through the soldier course above the doors Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  8. The side wing on 23 November 2003, a ladder at the bay window and an applicator on a second ladder at the far corner, the brick around him already carried into range During, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file is blunt about it: the brick were off-colored and blotchy, and did not match the sample. On the November 2003 frames the problem is dark units standing out in rows and clusters across a pale wall, worst at the corners and above the garage doors. The brick manufacturer hired the correction, not the homeowner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, brick by brick. The file records the method as a blend using multiple recipes: the dark units were lightened to sit inside the color range of the rest, rather than the whole wall being taken to one flat tone. It was a large project that took several days. The dated frames run from the 20th to the 23rd.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The garage-side corner of the house in 2019 under a mature tree, the brick one even tan and buff blend from the garage door past the tall window to the gable 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The entry gables in 2019 behind a small tree and clipped hedges, the brick around the dark red front door and the upper windows holding one range After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The three-car garage front in 2019, one bay open, the soldier course above the doors and the corners now reading as one blend with the wall After, 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The rear corner in 2019 with a patio set and a grill against the wall, the brick that carried the dark clusters now one even tan range below the siding After, 2019 View this photo larger
  5. The open garage bay in 2019 with bicycles inside, the brick pier and the wall beside it in the same tan and buff blend as the rest of the house After, 2019 View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same corners, same soldier course over the garage, one range across the units. The file's own note on the revisit is no fading, blistering, cracking, flaking or peeling. 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 139, transcribed beside the form so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 139, filled in and signed, rendered from the case file View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, New Baltimore, MI (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
"The brick were off-colored and blotchy, and did not match the sample."
What was corrected
"We blended the brick using multiple recipes."
Storyline
"This was a large project that took several days to complete."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The house seen from the sidewalk in 2019, the brick centre bay reading as one even red, tan and grey blend beside white siding.

Adding Dark Units to a Flat Range on an Ohio Home
The front of the house in 2019 across the lawn, brick with cast stone lintels, an oval window over the columned porch, the wall reading as one red and brown range

Matching Off Range Brick on a Michigan Home with Arched Bays
The front of the two-story brick house in 2019, jack arches over every window on both floors and a columned entry porch at the center.

Staining the Jack Arches on a New Albany Home

Your Project, Documented for Decades

Every job we stain enters the same discipline: photographed, revisited, re-photographed.

Request a Quote
Call Us Request a Quote