The gable end of the Youngstown State building in 2019, its brick reading as one even red across the whole wall
Case File 002

Blending a Band of Discolored Brick at Youngstown State

The brick on this campus building went up discolored, in a band and in other areas. The university hired the correction. The file records revisits in 2014 and in 2019, and certifies the work at twenty-four years.

Case No. 002
Structure University building
Location Youngstown, Ohio
Stained 1995
Re-photographed 2014 and 2019
Elapsed 24 years, Platinum level

1995

  1. The gable end wall in 1995, its brick a pale tan with darker units scattered through the courses around a small square window Before, 1995 View this photo larger
  2. A side elevation in 1995, pale tan brick running past a downspout to a stepped parapet, with darker units through the pilaster Before, 1995 View this photo larger

What was wrong

The brick went up discolored. The file puts it in one line: discolored brick in a band and other areas on the building. Nothing had failed and nothing was dirty; the wall did not agree with itself.

The university hired the work, not the mason and not the brick company. A campus decided the color of a finished building was worth correcting rather than living with.

What was done

Mineral stain, brushed on by hand, unit by unit. The phrase in the file is blended the brick by lightening the dark areas. Not one color over the whole wall: only the units out of range were touched, which is why the elevation still reads as several brick colors.

2019, twenty-four years on

  1. The gable end of the building in 2019 from the lawn, the tall window under the gable and the wing beyond all reading as one even red brick After, 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The same gable end wall in 2019 from the same viewpoint, the brick holding one red range across every course and around the small square window 24 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The same side elevation in 2019, the brick even from the pilaster past the downspout to the far windows, the frame carrying the Brickman Certified stamp After, 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty-four years prove

Same wall, same elevation, and a blend that is still the blend it was mixed to. On the certification scale that is Platinum, the top band, which covers twenty years and over. The file records an earlier revisit in 2014, at nineteen years. As of 2026 the work is thirty-one 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 002, 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 002, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Youngstown State (1995)
Level
Platinum, the top band. 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
School or university
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"Discolored brick in a band and other areas on the building."
What was corrected
"MCI blended the brick by lightening the dark areas."
Storyline
"In 2014 and 2019 MCI revisited this project, and on both dates, it still looks as good as the day we left it 19 and 24 years ago!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 05/05/2019
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