The brick front entry of a White Lake, Michigan house in 2019, its reds, greys and tans sitting in one range
Case File 132

Blending Off Color Brick on a White Lake Home

The brick on this single-story house went up with off colored areas scattered through the walls. The company that made the brick paid to have it blended. It was photographed again eighteen years later and certified then.

Case No. 132
Structure Single-story home
Location White Lake, Michigan
Stained 2001
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 18 years, Gold level

2001

  1. The front of a single-story brick ranch house in 2001, red brick across the entry gable and the wall beside the garage under a tan gable end Before, 2001 View this photo larger
  2. A brick wall of the house in 2001 below a roof valley, red brick carrying blended courses of grey and tan units across the elevation After, 2001 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The brick went up with patches that did not match the rest. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the units did not agree with each other. The file puts it in eight words: areas of off colored brick throughout the home.

The brick manufacturer hired it, not the owner and not the mason. A brick company decided the color of a finished house it had supplied was its own problem, and paid for staining over tear-out.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. Not one color over the whole house: several recipes were mixed so the off colored areas came into the range of the brick around them, which is why the finished walls still read as more than one brick color. The word in the file is finesse.

2019, eighteen years on

  1. The front entry of the house in 2019, the brick at the door and along the return wall reading as one range of reds, greys and tans, with planting either side of the walk 2019 View this photo larger
  2. A long side wall of the house in 2019 running from the bay window to the far corner, the brick one even blend of reds, greys and tans 18 Years After View this photo larger
  3. An outside brick corner of the house in 2019 with a white downspout running down it, the units in reds and greys with pale mortar joints 2019 View this photo larger
  4. Close view of the blended brick in 2019 seen along the wall, red and grey units sitting in the same range with pale sanded mortar joints 2019 View this photo larger

What eighteen years prove

Same house, same walls, and the blend is the blend it was mixed to. The form marks the work Gold, which on the certification scale covers fifteen years and over. As of 2026 the work is twenty-five 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 132, 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 132, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
White Lake, MI Residence (2001)
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
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issues
"Areas of off colored brick throughout the home."
What was corrected
"We blended the house using several recipes."
Storyline
"This is a perfect example of a 'finesse' project. Several recipes were used and the wall is better blended. Looks great 18 years and counting."
Address
"Permission needed to release address"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2019
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