Permanent mineral stain for commercial and institutional masonry. Full facade color changes, addition matching, manufacturer color correction, and coating removal. Vapor-permeable, no maintenance cycle, warrantied for life.
Mineral stain carries pigment into the pore structure of the masonry and bonds there. It changes the color of a wall without putting a layer on it, which is why there is no recoat cycle and nothing on the surface that can fail. Everything below is published either by Masonry Cosmetics, who make the system, or by the Brick Industry Association, the body American architects design brick to.
Applied materials leave no visible gloss, sheen or film on the masonry unit. There is nothing on the surface to peel, delaminate, or hold moisture behind it.
The full chemistryMineral-based stains are "preferred due to their high water vapor permeability." Our system is in that class; the wall keeps absorbing and releasing moisture as it was designed to.
BIA Technical Note 6, March 2025 (opens in a new tab)The specification requires application with a 100% polyester brush, by hand, individually to each masonry unit. No spraying or rolling is allowed, on any project, at any scale.
Section 04 25 10, Part 3.2 (opens in a new tab)Properly applied brick stains do not require additional maintenance and do not affect the structural integrity of the brick units or the mortar joints. Nothing recurs on the building's maintenance schedule.
What the warranty coversColor is mixed for the building, not picked from a chart, and proved on a ten square foot sample made on the actual elevation. That panel becomes the standard the work is signed off against.
How color approval worksNo ASTM standards exist for stain materials or their application. That is why the accepted evidence is a documented history of completed projects, with photographs and addresses, which is the format ours is kept in.
The field recordThe chemistry, the substrate schedule, the wall section drawing, and the submittal list are on the architects and engineers page.
Most commercial staining falls into one of these. If a wall does not fit any of them, the site assessment says so.
An entire elevation, or an entire building, brought to one target color. The specification covers clay units, block, manufactured stone, natural stone, mortar and pre-cast concrete, so a mixed elevation holds a single color across every material it is built from.
Specified when a renovation needs a new face and new masonry is not on the table.
In the photograph The owner wanted this storefront updated. The tan brick piers across the entrance were stained into the red of the wall behind them in 2001, and the front was photographed again eighteen years later. Case file 016
Matched in either direction: new masonry stained to read as original, or the original brought to the addition. Both are accepted applications in the Brick Industry Association's guidance, and which direction is cheaper depends on how much wall there is of each.
Specified when the joint between old and new is the thing everybody notices.
In the photograph This office went up in 1950, and by the time it expanded in 2002 its brick was no longer made. The new brick was stained to eight recipes to match the original, and the building was photographed again twelve years later. Case file 014
Off-run deliveries, improperly blended colors, a production run that missed the approved sample by half a shade. Nothing on the wall is defective and the elevation still does not read as one building. Blending brings the outliers into the range of the units around them.
Specified when the brick is already laid and tearing it out is not the answer anyone wants.
In the photograph The brick on this campus inn was laid too light. In 2010 the light units were taken to a middle tone and darks were added over the medium ones until the wall read as one range. Photographed again nine years later. Case file 203
Replacement units and repointed areas blended back into the field, along with chips, lime pops and damage from improper cleaning. Because the stain leaves no film, the original texture stays and the repair stops being the thing the eye goes to.
Specified when the masonry repair is sound and the patch is still visible from the sidewalk.
In the photograph A finished commercial elevation, brick courses banded with precast. Brick, mortar and precast are all absorbent masonry, so one stain system holds color across all three and each keeps its own texture. Building, town and year are being confirmed. Read the file
Corner units, sills, arches and other special shapes do not always come out the same color as the field brick they are laid with. Only the shape units are stained, into the range of the wall around them, and the rest of the elevation is not touched.
Specified when the field brick is right and the shapes are not: a stripe at every corner, a band under every window.
In the photograph The corner brick on this four-story office went up lighter than the wall it turned, so every return read as a stripe. The company that made the brick paid to have only the corners darkened in 2008, and the building was photographed again eleven years later. Case file 067
Joints alone, or brick and mortar together for a single facade color. Staining individual units also leaves the existing mortar in place, which the Brick Industry Association notes is often preferable to removing and replacing brick units or small areas of brickwork.
Specified when the mortar is the mismatch, or the wall needs to read as one tone rather than as courses.
In the photograph The mortar on the stadium gate buildings at this Alabama high school went up too rangy and too dark for the brick. Every joint was stained to one color in 2014, and the stadium was photographed again seven years later. Case file 405
A water absorption test on the actual wall settles it before anyone commits. The Brick Industry Association requires one prior to staining, and it can come back no. We would rather tell you that at the assessment than after a mobilisation.
The stain we apply is made by Masonry Cosmetics, in the field since 1988. It is a mineral system, not a coating: the color goes into the brick instead of onto it. The office below was stained in 2005, and the same corner was photographed again fourteen years later.
The same corner of the same office, photographed from roughly the same position fourteen years apart, with no maintenance in between. The brick arrived in more than one color and was blended rather than torn off, at the brick manufacturer's expense.
A walk of every elevation with the absorption test done on the actual wall, plus access, staging and adjacent-trade review. This is the stage where a wall gets ruled in or ruled out, and we say which before anything is priced.
A ten square foot section of the actual wall, stained and adjusted until the target color is approved in daylight, at the distance the building is seen from. It becomes the reference standard the rest of the job is measured against.
Firm pricing based on crew time and coat counts rather than square-footage guesswork, with the scope written elevation by elevation and any coating removal carried as its own line.
Hand application by brush, unit by unit, with section sign-offs against the approved panel as the work moves across the building. Staining proceeds only when surface and air temperatures are between 45 and 100 degrees F and the wall is dry.
Final walk with your team, photo documentation of every elevation, and the lifetime warranty certificate issued in writing for the building and transferable when it sells.
The specification provides for up to five color-enhanced loose units for matching, and a field sample of about ten square feet made on the actual surface of the building. Nothing else is touched until that sample is approved. If it is rejected, it gets adjusted and re-approved, or the project does not proceed to full application.
These are in the specification, so they are in the contract. A schedule built without them is a schedule that slips.
Clean, fully cured, pH neutral and dry. Paint, sealers, waterproofing, oil and tar block penetration and have to come off first.
Surface and air both, per the specification. No staining in rain, snow, dense fog or mist.
Dense, smooth masonry also takes pigment more slowly than porous brick, which the absorption test tells us before anyone commits.
A sealer applied over stained masonry voids the warranty. Cleaning is limited to plain water with no pressure washing, which is also all the wall needs.
Most commercial staining happens on an occupied building. Nothing about the method requires the building to close.
There is no ASTM standard for masonry stains. The Brick Industry Association says so plainly, and it is the reason the accepted evidence is a documented history of finished projects, with photographs and addresses, rather than a test certificate.
The system's library runs to more than 400 case studies, banded by how long each one has held its color: past twenty years, fifteen to nineteen, ten to fifteen, seven to nine. 227 of them sit in the top band. Each was photographed at completion, revisited years later, and photographed again from the same position.
Their expertise in brick staining, especially matching historic brick that's no longer available, is exceptional. It's not just close; they achieve a level of color and texture blending that makes repairs virtually disappear… Bramwell McKay employs master masons directly rather than relying on subcontractors, and it shows in the consistency and craftsmanship of their work… Whether it's restoration, repair, or new work that needs to tie seamlessly into an older structure, they bring a level of knowledge and execution that's hard to find.
The specification, the field record, and the warranty language. All of it is published, and none of it requires a call first.
The manufacturer's CSI-format specification covers basis of design, materials, application conditions, mockups, submittals, and applicator qualifications. Adapt it into your project manual as it stands.
The Brick Industry Association recommends validating a staining contractor through references that include photographs and addresses of completed projects. Ours are published in exactly that format: year stained, year revisited, photographs of both.
Review the case studiesMaterials and workmanship, for the life of the masonry, handed over with the project documentation and transferable when the building sells. A sample certificate is published.
Read the warranty termsEverything above applies to any commercial project. These three pages go further, each one written for one reader.
The full specification in CSI format, the substrate schedule, the wall section drawing, mockup and submittal procedure, safety data, and the documented record.
Review the specifier documentationCampus work on an academic calendar, from a single building refresh to a full color change, and how a board or committee approves a color.
Campus and district projectsColor complaints resolved without the blame war, additions matched, and how pricing and speed work when a closing date is the constraint.
Complaints, matches and deadlinesCorrections, matches, coating removal, or a full color change. We answer fast and quote in writing.
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