The front of a single-story orange brick house in 2020 with snow falling, the rebuilt corner beside the porch steps reading as the same brick as the rest of the wall
Case File 018

Staining Replacement Brick After a Car Hit the Corner

A car struck the corner of this single-story house and the replacement brick did not match. The mason who rebuilt the corner had the new brick and mortar stained in 2010. It was photographed again ten years later and certified then.

Case No. 018
Structure Single-story home
Location South Bend, Indiana
Stained 2010
Re-photographed 2020
Elapsed 10 years, Silver level

2010

  1. The corner of the house in 2010 wrapped in a grey tarp with yellow caution tape across the porch, before the brick was rebuilt Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  2. A hand holding a brick manufacturer's sample card of four replacement units against the original wall in 2010 Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  3. The rebuilt corner of the house in 2010 before staining, the replacement brick below the window reading darker and redder than the orange brick of the original wall on either side Before, 2010 View this photo larger
  4. The same corner in 2010 after staining, the replacement brick and its mortar now reading as one range with the original wall from the downspout round to the porch steps After, 2010 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The homeowners filed an insurance claim and the contractor found the closest brick available in size, texture and color. Once laid it read darker and redder than the wall around it. The Hired by line reads mason or contractor, so the mason who rebuilt the corner paid to put it right.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, on 100 percent of the replacement brick and its mortar. The order in the file is exact: the mortar was darkened first, then the brick was lightened. The original wall was left alone. A repair match, not a color change.

2020, ten years on

  1. The front of the house in 2020 with snow falling, the rebuilt corner to the left of the porch steps carrying the same orange brick as the rest of the wall After, 2020 View this photo larger
  2. The rebuilt corner at unit scale in 2020, snow blowing across it, the replacement brick and mortar still reading as the wall around them from the window sill down to the steps 10 Years After View this photo larger

What ten years prove

The replacement corner reads as the same brick as the rest of the house, and the note in the file is no fading, blistering, cracking or flaking. On the certification scale that is Silver, ten years and over. As of 2026 the work is sixteen 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. This is the one for case 018, transcribed beside the form page so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 018, filled in and signed, rendered from the case booklet View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, South Bend, IN (2010)
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 mason or contractor
Reason for project
Repair
Issue
"The corner of the house was struck by a car, and the brick replacement did not match."
What was corrected
"We stained 100% of the replacement brick and mortar."
Storyline
"The replacement brick was the closest match they could find in size, texture and color. We stained the mortar first and the brick."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
More Case Studies See all case studies →
The front gable of the Louisville house in 2019, its brick an even blend of tan, pink and brown.

Blending Blotchy Brick on a Louisville Two Story Home
The front of the house in 2019, its brick reading as one even sand color across the whole elevation

Lightening and Darkening Brick in One Maryland Wall
The front of the home from across the lawn in 2019, its brick one red and brown range behind deep planted beds and a young tree.

Blending a Brick Repair on a Canton Michigan Home

Your Project, Documented for Decades

Every job we stain enters the same discipline: photographed, revisited, re-photographed.

Request a Quote
Call Us Request a Quote