The school wall in 2019, a cream brick field over a red base band with a dashed accent course running through it
Case File 298

Darkening Light Brick and Shapes on a South Bend School

Some of the brick on this school came in lighter than the rest, and the special shapes did not match the range either. The company that made the brick paid to have it corrected. It was photographed again twenty years later and certified then.

Case No. 298
Structure School
Location South Bend, Indiana
Stained 1999
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 20 years, Platinum level

1999

  1. A pale cream brick wall above a dark base band, a dashed course of darker units running across it, with lighter bricks scattered through the field Before, 1999 View this photo larger
  2. An extension ladder standing against the upper cream brick wall of the school, the dark base band running below it During, 1999 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty. Some units had come in lighter than the rest of the delivery, and the special shapes did not sit in the range either. The file records light brick and shapes that did not match the rest of the range.

The brick manufacturer hired the correction, not the school and not the mason. The company that made the brick treated the color of a finished building as its own problem and paid for staining over tear-out.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. The light brick was darkened slightly and every shape was stained to bring it into the range, rather than one color laid over the whole wall. The brick was very hard fired with low absorption, so it took more applications than usual to reach the look the customer wanted.

2019, twenty years on

  1. The school elevation in 2019, a cream brick field reading as one range above a red base band, with a dashed accent course and a window at the right 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The stained wall photographed from below in 2019, cream brick over a red base band, carrying the Brickman Certified stamp 20 Years After View this photo larger
  3. Close view of the cream brick field in 2019, the units sitting in one narrow range with a course of dark red headers above them 2019 View this photo larger
  4. An outside corner of the school in 2019 with the elevation running away behind it, cream brick above and red brick below on both faces, spruce trees alongside 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty years prove

Same wall, same accent course, and a cream field that still reads as one range. On the certification scale twenty years and over is Platinum, and this file sits exactly on that mark. As of 2026 the work is twenty-seven 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 298, 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 298, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
South Bend School (1999)
Level
Platinum. 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 some light brick and shapes that did not match the rest of the range."
What was corrected
"We slightly darkened the light brick and stained all of the shapes to better match the range."
Storyline
"This was a very hard fired clay brick with low absorption. We were able to tint the brick and we were successful but because of the low absorption it took more applications to achieve the look the customer wanted."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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