The covered porch of the house in 2019, its columns and the brick wall beside them under a low roof
Case File 231

Staining Off Color Brick and Mortar on an Ohio Colonial

The brick on this house went up off color, and the file records the mortar was off with it. The company that made the brick paid to have both stained in 2004, while the yard was still bare dirt. The house was photographed again fifteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 231
Structure Brick home with a columned porch
Location Ohio
Stained 2004
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 15 years, Gold level

2004

  1. The gable end and covered porch of the new house in 2004, the orange red brick broken by pale washed patches and the mortar joints reading as a light grid across it Before, 2004 View this photo larger
  2. The same gable end and porch later in 2004, the brick reading as one deeper red range with the pale patches closed up and the joints carried closer to the brick around them After, 2004 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file puts it in two parts: the brick on the house was off color, and there were issues with the mortar as well. Nothing had failed and the house was new. 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 into the brick by hand, unit by unit. The file is exact about the scope, and it is wider than the brick: mortar and brick that was off color were both stained. The two 2004 frames are the same gable and porch, before and after.

2019, fifteen years on

  1. The covered porch in 2019, grown boxwood along its front and the brick wall beside it reading as one even red range, with a Brickman Certified stamp printed over the lower right of the frame 15 Years After View this photo larger

What fifteen years prove

The mark on the file is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over on the certification scale. The storyline says the same span in the file's own words: after fifteen years this job still looks fantastic. As of 2026 the work is twenty-two 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 231, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 231, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence in Ohio (2004)
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
Brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issues
"The brick on the house was off color and there were issues with the mortar as well."
What was corrected
"We stained mortar and brick that was off color."
Storyline
"Sometimes what you may think is a problem with the brick really turns out to be a problem with the mortar. After 15 years this job still looks fantastic."
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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