The long buff brick flank of the Ohio mall in 2019, its tan soldier bands running unbroken past the entrance canopy
Case File 260

Blending the Soldier Course on an Ohio Shopping Mall

The soldier brick on this mall was rejected for carrying too much color range. The company that made the brick paid to have it blended rather than pulled out. Two applications and three days later the architect approved the range, and it was photographed again twenty-three years on.

Case No. 260
Structure Shopping mall
Location Ohio
Stained 1996
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 23 years, Platinum level

1996

  1. A pair of service doors in 1996 set in buff brick, with a wide orange soldier band across the wall and a second band at the base During, 1996 View this photo larger
  2. An applicator seated on a step stool in 1996 working along the base soldier band of a low buff brick wall, the ground still unfinished During, 1996 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The soldier courses were rejected. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the upright units carried more variation than the banding would take. The file puts it in eleven words: the soldier brick was rejected because there was too much range.

It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the owner and not the mason. The company that supplied the brick paid for staining rather than replacement.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit across the two bands. The file records two applications over three days, after which the architect approved the color range. The phrase in the file is blended the brick for an acceptable range.

2019, twenty-three years on

  1. The long buff brick flank of the mall in 2019, running from a curved entrance canopy past a car park to a service yard 2019 View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner of the mall in 2019, two bands of tan soldier brick running across both faces above and below a field of buff brick 2019 View this photo larger
  3. Close view of the two tan soldier courses in 2019, the upright units reading as one range against the buff brick around them 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The mall wall in 2019 seen along its length, the soldier bands holding an even tan against the buff field 23 Years After View this photo larger

What twenty-three years prove

Same banding, and a range that is the range the architect signed off. On the certification scale that is Platinum, which covers twenty years and over. The file is plain about what did not last: the brick wall system has some issues but the staining remains intact. As of 2026 the work is thirty years old.

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 260, 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 260, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
OH Mall (1996)
Level
Platinum. 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
"The soldier brick was rejected because there was too much range."
What was corrected
"We blended the brick for an acceptable range."
Storyline
"Two applications and three days later the color range was approved by the architect. 23 years later the brick wall system has some issues but the staining remains intact."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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