The long brick side of a Michigan high school in 2019, reading as one range from end to end
Case File 068

Matching New Brick to Old at Northern Hills High School

New brick was set against a wall that was already standing here, in a different brick and a different texture. Every new unit was color enhanced until the two read as one range. It was photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 068
Structure High school
Location Michigan
Stained 2001
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Gold level

1994 and 2001

  1. A panel of school wall still under construction, sheeting over the openings and bare ground at its base, the brick running in mixed reds, tans and near-blacks with darker courses across it 1994 View this photo larger
  2. Scaffolding standing against a low school wall in 2001, the brick behind it in mixed reds, tans and greens under a yellow fascia During, 2001 View this photo larger

What was wrong

New brick was set against brick that was already standing, and the two did not agree. The file names both of them: an old Claycraft extruded texture on one side, a Belden Brick sand mold on the other. The issue line runs six words. The school wanted a better match.

The school hired it directly, not the mason and not the brick supplier. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. The scope in the file is a lot of enhancements throughout the building for a successful match, and the file says plainly what made that hard: the building had brick with different textures. It also marks 2001 as the year the enhancement work got heavier, which is why the close-ups are in the record at all.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The long side of the school in 2019, tall windows set in brick that runs as one range of reds, tans and browns with darker courses banding across it After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The school in 2019 from its entrance end, a run of tall windows going away down a wall of red and tan brick 2019 View this photo larger
  3. A glass entrance door set into the school's brick corner in 2019, with a second brick block and a fenced service yard behind it 2019 View this photo larger
  4. A single brick at close range in 2019, color enhanced to a deep green that sits between the red and brown units around it 18 Years After View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

Same school, photographed again in 2019 and signed off that year. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-five 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 068, 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 068, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Northern Hills HS (2001)
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 school
Reason for project
Addition or makeover
Issue
“The school wanted a better match.”
What was corrected
“A lot of enhancements throughout the building for a successful match. Even through the building had brick with different textures.”
Storyline
“Matching an old "Claycraft" extruded texture brick with a "Belden Brick" sandmold was not an easy task, but we were very successful! 2001 was the year we started using more "enhancements". We have included some closeups that you can see. A little rough looking close up, but effective. We have gotten much better over the years.”
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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