The front of the Utica house in 2019, salmon and tan brick around an arched upper window and the front door, with a dark leafed maple beside it
Case File 103

Evening Out Blotchy Brick on a Utica Michigan Home

The brick on this house went up blotchy and uneven, with dark clusters scattered through the walls where the blend was poor. The brick manufacturer paid to have it corrected in 1997. It was photographed again twenty-two years later and certified Platinum.

Case No. 103
Structure Two-story house
Location Utica, Michigan
Stained 1997
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 22 years, Platinum level

1997

  1. The rear of the house in 1997 before staining, red brick under a hipped roof and chimney, with darker units clustered unevenly through the wall between the tall arched window and the ground floor Before, 1997 View this photo larger
  2. Two extension ladders against the rear wall in 1997 with an applicator at the foot of one, the brick around the tall arched window part way through being stained During, 1997 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The file's words are "blotchy and uneven". Its evidence pages point at dark clusters of brick on the walls and put the cause down to a poor blend: the units were not mixed evenly as the walls went up, so the dark ones landed in patches. The brick manufacturer hired the correction, not the homeowner.

What was done

Not the whole wall. Some of the dark brick was stained to a pink, salmon color to level the walls out, each unit worked on its own with a different recipe so the patches read as part of the blend. The file calls it a project that required a lot of finesse and was not easy by any means.

2019, twenty-two years on

  1. The front elevation of the two-story house in 2019, one even range of salmon and tan brick from the gable to the ground, a tall arched window over the entrance and clipped hedges along the foundation After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. A gable end of the house in 2019, salmon and tan brick around an arched window over a clipped hedge, with a spruce and the street beyond After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. The attached garage in 2019, two tan doors set in salmon and tan brick under a grey sided upper story, the brick reading as one range across the piers After, 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty-two years prove

The front elevation in 2019 is one blend from the gable to the ground. The file records the stain as absorbed into the brick, not faded and not cracked after twenty-two years, which puts it at Platinum, the top of the certification scale at twenty years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-nine years old, and the 2019 photographs are the most recent record on it.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed when the file is closed. This is the one for case 103, transcribed beside the form so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 103, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Residence, Utica, MI (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 brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"The brick on this home was blotchy and uneven."
What was corrected
"We leveled out the walls by staining some of the dark brick to a pink/salmon color."
Storyline
"Projects like this require a lot of finesse. It was not an easy project by any means, but with some hard work, we were able to make the homeowners happy. They are still very pleased to this day!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020. Address: release permission required.
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