Upward view of a brick building corner topped with a white geometric concrete lattice cornice against a clear sky

Masonry Staining Services

One service, done right: permanent mineral-stain color for brick, mortar, block, and stone. On a single fireplace or an entire campus.

Where To Start

Start With Your Building

Homes and commercial buildings get the same mineral stain and the same lifetime warranty. Pick your side, or keep reading for the full picture of the work.

The Work

The jobs we are called in for

Six ways the same system gets used. Every one is permanent, and every one is color-approved on a stained sample of your own wall before the full application.

Two-story home with its brick stained an even cream color, seen across the back yard

Full Color Change

The whole surface moves to a new color, picked on your own wall. The classic whole home makeover, and the same work runs on commercial facades.
The rear of a large brick home across its lawn, the brick reading as one even range from the terrace wall up to the gables

Restoration & Color Refresh

Faded, patchy, or weathered masonry brought back to an even color. The stain penetrates without changing the texture, so the wall still reads as brick, not a coating.
Brick wall after staining, with the replacement-brick patch blended in to match the original masonry

Repairs Made Invisible

Damage from acid cleaning, pressure washing, fire, graffiti, or an impact, corrected in place. The wall in this photo has a stained patch in it. Try to find it.
The front of Lawton High School under its lettering, the expansion brick stained to sit in the same brown, grey and red range as the original wall

Additions That Match

The original brick is no longer made, but the addition still has to match. We stain compatible new brick to the original wall, or tone the original toward the new.
The full face of a Canton, Michigan high rise against a clear sky, every floor carrying the same brick color after the light run was darkened

Off-Color Brick, Corrected

A run of brick came in wrong, or two lots never matched. Staining corrects the color on the wall, without tear-down, reordering, or a schedule slip.
A retail storefront in Pickerington, Ohio, its entrance piers stained from tan into the same red as the wall behind them

Accent Brick, Restyled

A dated accent brick is stained into the color of the wall around it, with the building open. These entrance piers were tan until 2001 and were certified red eighteen years later.
Real Jobs, Up Close

Five jobs, up close

A brown run of brick evened into the grey wall around it, a repair matched into the original masonry, new brick matched to the older wall beside it, a flat wall given the blended range of the building behind it, and a home 25 years after staining. Drag to compare, and pick any job to see it.

The same wall after staining, the brown run evened into one grey with the courses around it
A grey brick wall beside a front window, a run of courses reading brown against the rest
The same brick wall after staining, the replacement patch blended in to match the original masonry
Brick wall with an unstained patch of red replacement brick standing out from the original masonry
The same commercial wall after staining, the new brick now the same tan as the older brick beside it
A commercial building where a new run of pink-toned brick meets the tan brick of the older wall at a stone pier
The same wall after staining, its brick now carrying the same blended range of dark units as the taller building behind it
A low brick wall in one flat orange, beside a taller building whose brick runs a blended range of orange and dark units
The same house 25 years later surrounded by mature trees, the stained brick still one even cream color
The house just after staining, the brick one even cream color
Before After

A run of brick that came out brown against a grey wall. Stained to match the courses around it. Both photos are the same afternoon, eighty minutes apart.

Drag to compare. Pick any job to see it.

See the Full Portfolio
Substrates

We stain any masonry that absorbs water

The core of what we do. Any absorbent brick, from a 1920s home to new construction.

The joints between the brick, stained on their own or along with the wall.

Concrete block on schools, warehouses, and additions takes stain and keeps its texture.

Limestone, sandstone, and fieldstone can be toned, matched, or evened out.

Faded or mismatched veneer stone gets its color back without replacement.

Precast pavers and cast concrete carry color the same way brick does.

The Mechanism

How the system works

The stain is a mineral system, not a coating. What goes on the wall is pigment, water, and a bonding agent, nothing else.

Cross-section of brick treated with mineral stain A magnified slice of brick. Pigment particles sit inside the pores below the surface, there is no film on the face, and moisture passes out through the wall. MINERAL STAIN Pigment cures inside the pores No film on the surface Moisture keeps moving out Texture stays visible Cross-section of the same brick under paint The same magnified slice of brick. A solid film sits on top of the surface, the pores below it are empty, and moisture is held behind the film. PAINT A film sits on top of the pores The surface is sealed Moisture is held behind it Texture is covered over
A magnified slice of the same wall. Illustrative drawing, not a photograph or a micrograph.
  • Brick pigment, not paint pigmentThe pigments are mineral oxides ground to an 80 to 100 mesh powder, the same class of pigment brick manufacturers use to color brick in the first place.
  • The bond cures inside the poresWater carries the pigment and bonding agent into the pore structure of the masonry. As the wall dries, the bond sets from liquid to solid inside the brick. No acrylic, no latex, no film.
  • Brushed on by hand, one unit at a timeApplication is by brush, unit by unit, keeping the mortar joints their own color. Spraying and rolling are not permitted under the specification.
  • Translucent by designThe natural variation and texture of the masonry stay visible, and the finish leaves no gloss, sheen, or film.
  • The masonry keeps breathingBecause nothing seals the surface, the stain does not trap moisture in the wall.
The Constraints

The limits, stated plainly

Staining has real limits, and knowing them is part of the trade.

Surface Absorbent only

Paint, sealers, waterproofing, and anything else that blocks penetration must come off first. The one-minute water test settles it.

Temperature 45 to 100 °F

The specification calls for surface and air temperatures in that range and a dry wall. No staining in rain, snow, or fog.

Humidity Below 95%

Dense, smooth masonry also takes the pigment more slowly than porous brick. The water test tells us before anyone commits.

Afterward No sealers

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.

The full specification, for architects and engineers Spec sheets and safety documentation The lifetime warranty, in writing
The Process

What to expect when you work with us

  1. Call us

    Tell us what you have and what you want.

    You receive Documented scope

  2. We come out

    We look at your masonry in person.

    You receive Condition and access review

  3. The water test

    A minute of water on your brick tells us it will take stain.

    You receive Substrate go or no go

  4. Quote and sample

    A firm quote, and a stained sample panel on your own wall.

    You receive Approved color standard, firm written price

  5. We do it

    We stain it, walk it with you, and hand over the lifetime warranty in writing.

    You receive Documented completion, lifetime warranty
The Grand Rapids Public Library from the street, two storeys of round-arched windows in evenly blended buff brick under a clay tile roof
The Record

One System, Proven for Decades

Every service on this page uses the same mineral stain system, in the field since 1988. Brick staining itself is older still: the brick industry has accepted the practice since at least 1960. No ASTM standard exists for masonry stains, so the proof standard is documented case histories. That is why projects are photographed when they finish, then photographed again years later.

See the Case Studies Request a Quote
400+ Documented case studies across every service we offer
20+ Years holding color on revisited projects
100% Of jobs color-approved on your own wall before we stain the rest
Lifetime Warranty on materials and workmanship, in writing
Who We Work With

The page written for your side of the table

Homeowners

Full home makeovers, repairs that disappear, and the staining vs painting question, in plain language.

For Homeowners

Architects & Engineers

The specification (CSI 04 25 10), substrates, submittals, safety documentation, and warranty terms.

For Architects

Builders, GCs & Distributors

Color complaints resolved, additions matched, and punch lists cleared without tear-down.

For Builders

Schools & Institutions

Campus color changes planned around academic calendars, with documentation boards can approve.

For Institutions
Common Questions

Masonry Staining, Asked and Answered

Masonry staining applies mineral pigments that soak into brick, block, stone, or mortar and bond permanently. It changes the color without coating the surface, so the masonry keeps its texture and keeps breathing.
Yes. Mortar can be stained on its own. New tuckpointing or joints that never matched are blended into the wall without touching the brick around them.
Yes. We stain single homes, and we stain entire campuses. The mineral stain system is the same. Only the scale of the crew and the schedule changes.
For the life of the masonry. The stain bonds into the surface, and revisited projects are still holding their color after more than 20 years. Every job carries a lifetime warranty.
No. Stain soaks in instead of forming a film, so the surface texture, the mortar lines, and the natural variation of the masonry stay exactly as they are.
Not until the coating comes off. Stain bonds inside the pores of the masonry, and paint, sealers, and waterproofing block that penetration. Once the coating is removed and the wall passes a water test, staining can proceed.
Yes, in either direction. New brick can be stained to match the original wall, or the original wall can be toned toward the new brick. Matching additions is one of the oldest accepted uses of brick stain.
A dry wall, with surface and air temperatures between 45 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. No staining in rain, snow, fog, or very high humidity. In a four-season climate that means roughly spring through fall.

One Color Change, Done Once

A quote, and a sample panel on your actual wall before anything else.

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