The stone base course of the Ohio apartment building in 2021, running under three storeys of balconies and board siding, with a parked car at the kerb
Case File 366

Darkening Light Manufactured Stone on Ohio Apartments

The manufactured stone on this apartment building went up with too many light units in the range, and the building owner rejected the work. The stone manufacturer hired the correction in 2009. The walls were photographed again twelve years later and certified Silver.

Case No. 366
Structure Apartment building
Location Ohio
Stained 2009
Re-photographed 2021
Elapsed 12 years, Silver level

2009

  1. A projecting stone corner in 2009 above a service door, the stacked stone running from cream and pale tan to light pink with a camera date burned into the bottom right Before, 2009 View this photo larger
  2. A stone wall with three brown louvered vents in 2009, the stone reading cream and pale tan in full sun, a green boom lift parked against the upper right corner Before, 2009 View this photo larger
  3. An outside corner beside a balcony in 2009, two windows set in stacked stone that runs cream through pale pink, with a green boom lift at the top left Before, 2009 View this photo larger
  4. A test area marked out on the untouched wall in 2009 with yellow tape, the stone inside and outside the tape the same pale cream and tan Before, 2009 View this photo larger
  5. The same taped test area in 2009 once it had been stained, the stone inside the yellow line a deeper red brown, a truck and a traffic cone in the lot behind After, 2009 View this photo larger
  6. The three vent wall part way through the work in 2009, an applicator standing in the basket of a green boom lift at the right of the frame During, 2009 View this photo larger
  7. The same three vent wall in 2009 with the work finished and the lift gone, the stone now one range of red brown and tan under the same bright sun After, 2009 View this photo larger

What was wrong

In the file's words, there were too many light colored stone in the range, and the building owner rejected the work. Nothing had failed. The stone manufacturer hired the correction, not the owner.

What was done

Test panels went on different walls first, so the client could approve the color before the rest of the job was finished. The light stone was then darkened to bring the wall into one range. Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, absorbs into the face of the stone rather than sitting on top of it.

2021, twelve years on

  1. The apartment building from the parking lot in 2021, three storeys of balconies and board siding over a continuous stone base course, a white car in the nearest bay After, 2021 View this photo larger
  2. The same wall in 2021 under an overcast sky, the three openings now flat panels rather than louvers, the stone one blended range of red brown and tan with bare saplings in front After, 2021 View this photo larger
  3. An outside corner beside a balcony in 2021, two windows set in stacked stone that reads as one warm tan and red brown range up to the return After, 2021 View this photo larger
  4. A closer look at the same three panels in 2021, the stacked stone courses even in tone across the face with no fading, blistering or flaking at the joints After, 2021 View this photo larger
  5. A 2009 print of the entrance elevation held up against the same elevation in 2021, the stone in the print and the stone behind it reading as the same range 2009 and 2021 View this photo larger
  6. A 2009 print of a stained wall held against that wall in 2021, the courses in the print lining up with the courses behind it and the tone matching across the join 2009 and 2021 View this photo larger

What twelve years prove

Same walls, same stone, one range across the face. The file records no fading, blistering, cracking or peeling at the revisit. On the certification scale twelve years is Silver, which covers ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is seventeen years old, and the 2021 photographs are the most recent record on it.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, filled in and signed after someone has gone back to the building. This is the one for case 366, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 366, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Apartments, Ohio (2009)
Level
Silver. The scale runs Bronze at seven years and over, Silver at ten and over, Gold at fifteen and over, Platinum at twenty and over.
Hired by
The stone manufacturer
Cause
Complaint or problem
Background
"Too many light colored stone in the range, and the building owner rejected the work"
Actions taken
"Darkened the light colored stone"
Detail of events
"Great example of staining manufactured stone that has been looking great for over 12 years!"
Address
Release permission required
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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