A wide band of the brick stair and the planter wall at the Tennessee house in 2022, treads and wall reading as one range
Case File 418

Toning a New Brick Stair to Match a Tennessee House

A new brick stair went on the front of this Tennessee house and did not match the brick already there. The company that made the brick paid to bring the new work into range. The steps were photographed again seven years later.

Case No. 418
Structure House, brick stair addition
Location Tennessee
Stained 2015
Re-photographed 2022
Elapsed 7 years, Bronze level

2015

  1. The new brick steps in 2015, a run of orange red brick treads rising to a dark front door, with dark spots scattered across the treads and the risers Before, 2015 View this photo larger
  2. The inside corner in 2015 where the planter wall of the house meets the wall of the new stair, the newer brick carrying dark blotches the older wall does not Before, 2015 View this photo larger
  3. The same inside corner later in 2015, the dark spots toned down and the two walls reading closer, with a tool and a folded roll of fabric still lying on the bed After, 2015 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The stair was new and the house was not. The file puts it plainly: the brick on the new stair addition did not match the brick on the house. Dark spots ran through the new units and read as blotches against the older wall behind them. The company that made the brick hired the correction, not the homeowner.

What was done

Selective staining, unit by unit rather than wall wide. The file records certain portions of specific bricks treated to better match the home, and the result in its own words: we toned down the dark spots for a better blended match.

2022, seven years on

  1. The front of the house in 2022, the brick stair and the planter wall seen past grown shrubs from the public walk, with the railed porch above 2022 View this photo larger
  2. The same steps in 2022, the treads and risers holding one range across the full width, with a concrete walk at the foot and clipped shrubs on both sides After, 2022 View this photo larger
  3. The inside corner in 2022, the planter wall of the house and the wall of the stair holding one range, with a clipped boxwood in the bed below 7 Years After View this photo larger

What seven years prove

Same steps, same cheek walls, same inside corner where the stair meets the house. The dark spots are still down and the two runs of brick still read as one. On the certification scale that is Bronze, which covers seven to nine years. As of 2026 the work is eleven years old.

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 418, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 418, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Tennessee (2015)
Level
Bronze. 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
Cause
Addition or makeover
Background
"The brick on the new stair addition did not match the brick on the house"
Actions taken
"We toned down the dark spots for a better blended match"
Detail of events
"We used selective staining to stain certain portions of specific bricks to better match the home"
Address
"Release permission required"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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