The side wall of the Northville house in 2019, its tan brick reading as one range under the vinyl siding
Case File 172

Evening Out a Patchy Brick Blend on a Northville Home

The brick on this new house went up patchy, with areas that read too dark or too light against the rest. The brick manufacturer paid to have the off-color units lightened and darkened into the field rather than replaced. It was photographed again twelve years later and certified then.

Case No. 172
Structure Two-story house
Location Northville, Michigan
Stained October 2007
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 12 years, Silver level

2007

  1. The front of the two-story house in October 2007 before any landscaping, tan brick under vinyl-sided gables with patches of lighter and darker units across the face, and a camera date of 10/09/2007 Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  2. The same front elevation later in 2007, the brick reading as one tan range around the arched entry and the bay window, bare dirt still in front After, 2007 View this photo larger
  3. The garage side wall in 2007 with the door up, a meter and hose bib on the brick, and blotches of light and dark units through the courses Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  4. The garage side wall after staining in 2007, the courses reading as one range around the meter and the basement window After, 2007 View this photo larger
  5. A triple window at an outside corner in 2007, the brick around it mottled with lighter patches, with a camera date of 10/09/2007 Before, 2007 View this photo larger
  6. A side wall with one window in 2007, a block of lighter brick at the lower right beside two basement windows Before, 2007 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Off-colored brick throughout the house, the file says. The 2007 frames show what that meant: patches of a few units at a time that read lighter or darker than the field, on every elevation. Nothing had failed. The manufacturer of the brick hired the correction, not the builder and not the owner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, one unit at a time. Some brick were lightened and some darkened until the patches broke up into the field around them. The file's phrase for the result is a seamless blend. There was no whole-wall color change; the brick that were already in range were left alone.

2019, twelve years on

  1. The same side wall in 2019, tan brick under vinyl siding reading as one range from the window down to the lawn, two basement windows at the base After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The front of the house in 2019 with shrubs and lawn in, the brick one tan range across the gables and the arched entry After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The house from the driveway in 2019, garage on the left, the brick one range past a tree and the front beds to the arched entry 2019 View this photo larger
  4. A wall beside a downspout in 2019 with shrubs grown against it, the tan brick courses reading as one range up to the siding After, 2019 View this photo larger
  5. The rear patio corner in 2019, a pergola post and lantern in front of a brick wall with a tall window and an evergreen beside it 12 Years After View this photo larger

What twelve years prove

Same walls, with the lawn and the shrubs in. The file's own note on the side wall reads that over 12 years later the stain is indistinguishable from the unstained brick, and its evidence page records no cracking, blistering, peeling or fading. On the certification scale that is Silver, which starts at ten years. As of 2026 the work is nineteen 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 172, transcribed beside the form so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 172, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Northville, MI (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 brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"Off-colored brick throughout the house."
What was corrected
"Lightened and darkened several brick for an overall better match."
Storyline
"We broke up the patchy areas by lightening and darkening brick for a seamless blend."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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