September 2017
Brick Staining News
by Masonry Cosmetics: "The Brick Matching Experts"
There are times owners and Architects want to put an addition on an older building that is still in good condition, only to find that the brick are no longer made and also, that there is not a close alternate from another manufacture.
We help in this area all the time and this is why we are called Brick Matching Experts. Here is a project we now call the Downtown South Bend Office Building that was originally built back in 1950. We color enhanced this building addition back in 2002. And it still looks great like the day we stained it.
Here is that story, the brick that cladded the Main Building was a Wire cut textured 8”x 8” or 8 square or as some manufactures call it a Quad Sized Brick. The closest brick that one of the local dealers came up with was an 8”x 16” brick with an score in the middle of the brick to give it the look of two - 8”x 8” brick. Samples were shipped to the site and everyone could see that it was just not a good match.
Enters option number two, Rose Brick a local Brick Distributor found a brick close to size and texture, along with getting the base color as close as they could find. A brick was found that was manufactured by the Belden Brick Company called Royalty Red in the 8”x8” size. The Royalty Red color was a beautiful brick in its own right but for this project it did not have much of a range to it. What was needed was a wide range of Browns. More accurately 8 shades of brown. Blended in such a way to compliment the walls it was trying to closely match.
A panel was made and Masonry Cosmetics was called in to color enhance the brick with our proven masonry stain. A proven masonry stain is a translucent penetrating stain that will never hurt a brick. It does not hurt a brick because it does not create a layer like many paints and paint like stains do. It will not peel, crack, blister or flake. The brick still remain breathable and natural looking. As long as the brick have absorption on the face surface than the brick are a good candidate for our proven masonry staining system.
Eight different custom recipes of Browns were created on site and a plan on the placement of those recipes was laid out. The professionals at Masonry Cosmetics went to work color enhancing each brick one at a time using a 2” brush and one of the developed colors. The brush helps individualize the placement of the different colors. Placement is such an advantage when matching a wall or building. With care each color can be placed in the wall to mirror the areas it is trying to closely match. By the nature of this Proven Masonry Stain’s makeup, it cannot be sprayed. A Proven Masonry Stain is not a paint or paint like stain but another product all together.
Masonry Cosmetics won the MACIAF 2002 Excellence In Construction Award for this project. Today there are no more doubters. Fifteen years ago Masonry Cosmetics’ Proven Masonry Staining System was not as well-known as it is now. Other stain companies were already having failures in the field. They wondered if we were just like them, we were not. We appreciated the confidence they had in us to work on this project. We made promises and have exceeded every one of them. This was a win for everyone on this project.
We took a very good Belden Brick and with color enhancements made it even better for this project, and as you can see, it has lasted the test of time. The brick still look natural, they are still as breathable as the day they were stained. This is how a Proven Masonry Stain should perform. No one else has a product like we do. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this, it is appreciated, Don