The front of the house in 2019, its brick reading as one light tan and pink range across the garage gable and the entry
Case File 126

Lightening Wrong Color Units on an Ohio Home

A few of the brick that arrived at this house were the wrong color, packed into the cubes with the right ones by mistake. The company that made the brick paid to have those units lightened in 2005 rather than cut out of the wall. It was photographed again fourteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 126
Structure Single-story brick home
Location Ohio
Stained April 2005
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 14 years, Silver level

2005

  1. A gable end wall of light tan brick in 2005 with a scatter of much darker red units through the upper courses, a white downspout at the corner During, 2005 View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner of the house in 2005 under a deep white soffit, the brick on both faces reading as one light tan and pink range During, 2005 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file names it in one line: different brick were mixed in the cubes by mistake. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty, and the house was new. A scatter of darker units had gone up across an otherwise light wall. The Hired by line reads brick manufacturer, so the company that made the brick paid to put it right.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed in by hand, on the wrong units only. The file is exact about the method: we lightened the dark brick. The storyline says why it was worth doing at all. It is only a few red brick, but those few wrong brick can make all the difference. A faster, cheaper, and smarter alternative to cutting the brick out and replacing.

2019, fourteen years on

  1. The front of the single-story house from the pavement in 2019, the gabled garage wing, the columned entry and the bay window all in one light tan and pink brick range 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The covered entry in 2019 with a bluestone walk running up to a dark front door, brick either side of it and under the bay window in the same light range 14 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The brick beside the front door in 2019, an inside corner of the porch running back to a white column and a downspout, the units an even light range 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the wall at a window sill in 2019, a rowlock course under the sill and the units around it an even light tan and pink range at arm's length 2019 View this photo larger

What fourteen years prove

The mark on the file is Silver, which covers ten years and over on the certification scale. Fourteen years on, the lightened units still sit inside the range of the wall around them. As of 2026 the work is twenty-one 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 house. This is the one for case 126, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 126, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence in Ohio (2005)
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
Brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issues
"Different brick were mixed in the cubes by mistake."
What was corrected
"We lightened the dark brick."
Storyline
"It is only a few red brick, but those few wrong brick can make all the difference. We were hired just to stain the few wrong brick that were mistakenly packed into the cubes. A faster, cheaper, and smarter alternative to cutting the brick out and replacing."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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