The gable end of the house at Shadow Lake in 2019, its brick reading as one tan and brown range
Case File 299

Blending Off Range Brick on a Shadow Lake Home

The brick on this two-story house went up with off-colored units scattered through the range. The homeowners wanted them brought closer to the brick around them, and they were stained to match rather than cut out. It was photographed again eleven years later and certified then.

Case No. 299
Structure Two-story home
Location Shadow Lake, Indiana
Stained April 2008
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 11 years, Silver level

2008

  1. A shuttered upper window and the gable dormer beside it in 2008, pale and grey-cast units scattered through the buff and tan brick around them Before, 2008 View this photo larger
  2. The same window and dormer with the work done, shot in full sun, the brick reading as one tan and brown range After, 2008 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Off-colored brick, scattered through the range. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; some units did not agree with the ones beside them. The ask in the file is plain: the homeowner wanted a closer match to the rest of the range.

The Hired by box on the form is marked Mason or contractor, and the storyline on the same sheet names the homeowners as the ones who were unhappy with the brick.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Not one color over the wall: the off units were brought into the range the brick around them was already in. The file records the result in seven words: we corrected all of the eye sores.

2019, eleven years on

  1. The gable end of the house in 2019 seen from below, the brick running as one tan and brown range from the eaves down past a shuttered window 2019 View this photo larger
  2. A front gable in 2019 with an arched brick head over a shuttered window and a tall arched window on the bay beside it, the certification stamp at the corner 11 Years After View this photo larger
  3. A gable in 2019 centred on its arched window head and cast stone keystone, the brick above and below in the same tan and brown range 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the brick arch over a gable window in 2019, tans, browns and pale creams running through the courses with pale mortar joints 2019 View this photo larger

What eleven years prove

Same house, eleven years on, its brick reading as one range rather than as patches. On the certification scale that is Silver, which covers ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is eighteen 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 299, 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 299, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Shadow Lake Residence (2008)
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
Mason or contractor
Reason for project
Other
Issue
"The homeowner wanted a closer match to the rest of the range."
What was corrected
"We corrected all of the eye sores."
Storyline
"There were off-colored brick in the range that the homeowners were unhappy with. They hired us and we fixed all of the areas of off-colored brick. Overall, the project turned out well."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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