The front of the house in Saline in 2020, red brick reading as one range across the arched entry and the gabled wing
Case File 341

Darkening Light Areas on a Saline, Michigan Home

A few light areas on this two-story house in Saline stood out against the rest of the brick. The brick manufacturer paid to have them darkened. The house was photographed again seventeen years later and certified then.

Case No. 341
Structure Two-story house
Location Saline, Michigan
Stained November 2003
Re-photographed 2020
Elapsed 17 years, Gold level

2003

  1. The gable end in 2003, a pale washed out patch running down the brick beside the round louvre vent and across the corner pier, with a camera date of October 7 burned into the frame Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. An outside corner in 2003, the pier brick several shades lighter and pinker than the wall it turns into, with bare graded dirt piled at the base Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  3. The pier beside a bay window in 2003, its face a pale mottled red against the darker brick of the return wall to the right Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  4. An applicator kneeling on the entry slab in 2003, working stain into the brick by hand with a cloth laid out beside him, dated November 17 During, 2003 View this photo larger
  5. The whole front of the two-story house in 2003, arched entry and gabled wing complete, a ladder standing against the right gable and bare graded dirt across the yard During, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file is blunt: a few light areas that really stood out and looked bad. The photographs show where. A pale band runs down the gable and across the corner pier, and the pier beside the bay window reads several shades lighter than the wall it turns into.

What was done

Mineral stain, worked into the light areas by hand. The file records one line for it, we darkened the light areas. The camera dated the gable on October 7 2003 and the applicator at work on November 17.

2020, seventeen years on

  1. The front of the two-story house in 2020, red brick reading as one range across the arched entry, the gabled wing and the round louvre vent, above a grown lawn and planting beds 2020 View this photo larger
  2. The same outside corner in 2020, the pier and both walls in one range of red brick with even mortar joints, a wooden sled leaning against the wall After, 2020 View this photo larger
  3. The bay window and the pier beside it in 2020, brick running one range from the window return to the outside corner under a dark metal bay roof 17 Years After View this photo larger
  4. The side elevation in 2020, red brick running past a window to the front corner, with a grown spruce and a bare stemmed shrub in the bed below After, 2020 View this photo larger
  5. The entry recess in 2020, the same corner the applicator worked in 2003, red brick running from the door surround to the outside corner in one range After, 2020 View this photo larger

What seventeen years prove

Same gable, same corner, same pier beside the bay window. The light areas are gone and nothing has replaced them: no blistering, no flaking, no edge where the stain stops. Seventeen years is Gold on the certification scale, which covers fifteen and over.

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 341, transcribed beside the scan.

Scan of the case study form for case 341, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Saline, MI (2003)
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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"A few light areas that really stood out and looked bad."
What was corrected
"We darkened the light areas."
Storyline
"A great example of a success story about our stain lasting over 18 years. Still looks as good as the day we left!"
Address
Release permission required
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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