The garage wall of the Saline house in 2020, buff brick reading as one range from the arched window across to the garage door
Case File 339

Lightening Dark Brick on a Saline, Michigan Home

Areas of the brick on this two-story house came out too dark against the rest of the wall. The brick manufacturer paid to have the dark units lightened in 2012. It was photographed again eight years later and certified then.

Case No. 339
Structure Two-story house
Location Saline, Michigan
Stained 2012
Re-photographed 2020
Elapsed 8 years, Bronze level

2012

  1. The garage wall of the house in 2012 before staining, buff brick with clusters of much darker units across the upper wall and a blue lift parked below the window Before, 2012 View this photo larger
  2. The chimney side of the house in 2012 after the dark units were lightened, buff brick reading one range from the arched windows up to the eave, with house wrap still showing under the soffit After, 2012 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Too many dark colored brick in areas around the house, in the file's words. Most of the wall ran a normal buff range, then the dark units clustered in patches that read as blotches rather than blend. Nothing had failed. The brick manufacturer hired the correction, not the homeowner.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. The dark brick were lightened toward the main color of the house, and the file records a large percentage of them treated. The wall was not recolored; the units that stood out were brought into the range around them.

2020, eight years on

  1. The same garage wall in 2020, buff brick one range from the arched window past the entry door to the garage, with the certification stamp in the corner After, 2020 View this photo larger

What eight years prove

Same wall, same arched window, same garage door, and the patches have gone into the range. On the certification scale that is Bronze, which covers seven to nine years. As of 2026 the work is fourteen years old, and the 2020 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 339, 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 339, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Saline Residence (2012)
Level
Bronze. 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
"There were too many dark colored brick in areas around the house."
What was corrected
"We lightened a large percentage of the dark brick."
Storyline
"The areas where the dark brick were located we stained lighter to better blend with the main color of the brick on the house."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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