?'s - "Pointing Up" a brick wall, cracked lentil

[Irishguy]

Hi everyone,

I'm considering buying a 1905 rowhome in Philadelphia. There is a leaky roof 10 feet above the kitchen window, and part of the exterior rear wall between them. There are several spaces in the mortar between the bricks, and the lentil surrounding the kitchen window is cracked in one spot. My inspector thinks that water from the leaky roof collected between the bricks, then froze and expanded, thus damaging the wall and cracking the lentil.

If all I need to do it point up the wall, great. If the damage is more severe and I have to have some of the bricks and the lentil replaced, how expensive could that get? Has anyone had experience with damage like this before? I am particularly concerned because I want to replace the kitchen window with something more efficient and modern, and my inspector told me that the weight of the sagging bricks could interfere with the window frame, essectially forcing me to replace several of them (and possibly much of the wall).

I have pictures of the wall and lentil, if anyone wants to see them. Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

[Rich]

All I can say is that once you start tearing bricks apart it can get pretty expensive. Who knows what other damage behind the bricks has taken place. Maybe Shanley can give a better idea.