The South Bend office in 2019, its stained brick running the length of the elevation as one even wall
Case File 021

Blending an Office Wall With Deep Raked Joints Untouched

The company that owns this office wanted a better blend out of its brick. Most of the wall was stained by hand in 2003. It was photographed again sixteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 021
Structure Single-story office
Location South Bend, Indiana
Stained 2003
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 16 years, Gold level

2003

  1. A single-story office in 2003, its brick a pale buff and tan mix under a beige metal upper wall, with fresh earth piled at the kerb Before, 2003 View this photo larger
  2. Two extension ladders standing against the same office during staining in 2003, the brick along the near bays still pale During, 2003 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. The brick simply did not agree with itself, and the company that owns the building wanted better. The file puts the issue in nine words: the customer was looking for a better blend.

It was hired by that business directly, not by a mason, a manufacturer or an architect, and the file files it under an addition or makeover rather than a complaint.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Most of the brick was stained rather than all of it, which is the file's own wording: the units that already sat right were left alone. The joints were raked deep enough that no stain went into the mortar.

2019, sixteen years on

  1. The office in 2019 from the corner of the lawn, the stained brick an even red and brown blend along both faces, carrying the Brickman certification stamp 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The entrance elevation in 2019 with its ramp and handrail, the same bays as the 2003 frame in an even red brown 16 Years After View this photo larger
  3. Close view of the brick at an outside corner in 2019, the mortar joints raked deep into shadow and clean of stain on every course 2019 View this photo larger

What sixteen years prove

Same building, same brick, and a blend that is still the blend it was mixed to. On the certification scale that is Gold, which covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-three years old, and the 2019 certification is the most recent record on it.

The test the file sets is the one worth borrowing. Stain that has held its color does not announce itself: you cannot pick out which units were treated, and the mortar between them was never touched.

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 021, 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 021, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Office in South Bend (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
Business or corporation
Reason for project
Addition or makeover
Issue
"The customer was looking for a better blend."
What was corrected
"We stained most of the brick."
Storyline
"This is a job where I could really send someone to see if they can find a brick we stained! They had deep raked joints, so no stain in the mortar either! Every brick we stained looks great! If we did not have the before pictures, you would have never known we stained anything!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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