The brick tower of the university building in 2019, orange red brick under a green glass pyramid roof against a clear sky
Case File 088

Blending a Discolored Brick Run on a St. Louis University

A storm cut power to the brick plant in the middle of the run, and half the brick came out off color. Nobody noticed until it was on the wall. The mason who laid it hired the correction in 1997, and the building was photographed again twenty-two years later.

Case No. 088
Structure University building
Location St. Louis, Missouri
Stained 1997
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1997

  1. The three-story block in 1997 before staining, red brick with darker blotchy patches across the upper floors and a truck parked at the corner of the site Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  2. A pale tan brick wall in 1997 beside a dark recessed opening under a metal-clad soffit, with a strip window in the recess Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  3. A wall beside a plywood-covered doorway in 1997, the brick mottled between dark and light units across the courses, with a camera date of 5/14/97 in the corner Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  4. An applicator on an extension ladder against the red brick wall beside the tower in 1997 During, 1997 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file records blotchy and discolored brick. The cause was upstream of the site: a storm knocked out power at the brick plant partway through the run, and the units fired either side of the outage did not match. Nobody saw it until the brick was laid. The mason, not the university, hired the fix.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed by hand. In the file's words, the discolored brick was color enhanced for a better blend. Custom blends were mixed for the off units, and each brick was treated on its own rather than the wall being coated. The stain absorbs into the pore structure, so it does not trap water.

2019, twenty-two years on

  1. The tower and two-story wing of the university building in 2019, one range of orange red brick from the ground to the green glass pyramid, with a campus umbrella table at the entrance 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The three-story block in 2019, even red brick across all three floors, tree branches at the top left and cars in the lot After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The same wing in 2019, red brick from the ground to the coping with three evergreens planted against it After, 2019 View this photo larger
  4. The same doorway in 2019, a maroon steel door set in a wall of even red brown brick under the soffit After, 2019 View this photo larger
  5. A curved corner of the building in 2019, orange brick running behind a tree past a strip window to the rounded end wall After, 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

One range across the tower, the wing and the door wall. On the certification scale that is Platinum, the top rung, twenty years and over. The form was signed in 2020, twenty-three years after the work.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed when someone goes back to the building. This is the one for case 088, transcribed so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 088, filled in and signed, rendered from the case booklet View the signed form full size
Project name
University, St. Louis, MO (1997)
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 mason or contractor
Cause
Complaint or problem
Background
"Blotchy and discolored brick on this university building."
Actions taken
"Color enhanced the discolored brick for a better blend."
Detail of events
"In the middle of this run of brick being made, there was a huge storm that knocked out the power at the plant. It wasn't until the brick was laid on-site that anyone noticed that half the brick were off-colored."
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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