The Plymouth office seen from the pavement in 2019, its blended brick reading as one consistent wall
Case File 108

Blending Off Color Brick on a Plymouth Michigan Office

The brick on this two-story office went up in colors that did not match. The company that made the brick paid to have it blended rather than torn off. It was photographed again fourteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 108
Structure Two-story office
Location Plymouth, Michigan
Stained June 2005
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 14 years, Silver level

2005

  1. Two applicators on ladders working across the brick of a two-story office building, its brick a pale uneven tan During, 2005 View this photo larger
  2. Close view of an outside brick corner, the units in mixed reds, browns, creams and near-blacks with pale mortar joints After, 2005 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The brick went up in more than one color. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the units did not agree with each other. The file puts it in eight words: the brick on the building had continuity issues.

It was hired by the brick manufacturer, not the owner and not the mason. A brick company decided the color of a finished building it had supplied was its own problem, and paid for staining over tear-out.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Not one color over the whole wall: the off-color units were brought into the range of the ones around them, which is why the finished elevation still reads as several brick colors. The phrase in the file is matching multiple colors in the same brick.

2019, fourteen years on

  1. The office seen from the pavement across the front lawn, its blended brick reading as one consistent wall at distance 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The same office building in 2019, its brick an even red and brown blend, with mature planting and a tenant sign at the kerb 14 Years After View this photo larger
  3. An outside corner of the office running from the ground to the eaves, the brick evenly blended on both faces 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Two windows with cast stone sills and heads set in blended red and brown brick, with a soldier course running above them 2019 View this photo larger
  5. Close view of the blended brick at an outside corner in 2019, an accent course of upright units running across both faces 2019 View this photo larger

What fourteen years prove

Same building, same corner, and a blend that is the blend it was mixed to. On the certification scale that is Silver, which covers ten years and over. 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 building. This is the one for case 108, 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 108, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Office in Plymouth, Michigan (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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"The brick on the building had continuity issues."
What was corrected
"We blended the off colored brick to create a better blend/match."
Storyline
"Here is another great example of brick having more than one color or characteristics. It's also a great example of our artistic abilities matching multiple colors (in the same brick)."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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