What is wrong with this wall?

[plcanonica]

This is a picture of the front of our 1902 terrace house, the wall below the ground floor bay window. It is the north facing side.

The paint seems to be bubbling around the pointing, but it looks brick coloured where the paint comes off. Any ideas on what could be causing this, or how to fix it? The wall is solid, not cavity.

 

[stuart45]

When brickwork is painted it can trap moisture in the wall which can cause the problems you see.

 

[plcanonica]

Interesting, thank you. How do I get the paint off then? Lots of scraping with a wire brush, or is there a better method?

 

[stuart45]

A wire brush can damage old brickwork. There are paint removers that can be used.

 

[plcanonica]

It's odd though, most of the houses in the terrace are painted but ours is the only one with this crumbling and bubbling.

 

[KenGMac]

Could be that the DPC is causing the damage in that the upper area of damage is on the line of the DPC hence the bricks below the DPC will be wet, the brick above will be drier,

As for how to remove the defective paint? Power washer? or google "Soda Blasting" [not as drastic as it seems at first sight?]

Ken

 

[^woody^]

Is that 112 Ocean Avenue?

 

[fatplumber]

You have porous bricks and no or failed dpc. The mortar is limey. Injection is a possibility.

 

[tony1851]

Is that 112 Ocean Avenue?

?

 

[^woody^]

?

At 1.35

 

[plcanonica]

Thank you for all the replies. It looks like I'll try to use soda blasting to get the paint off first, and get a better idea of the condition of the bricks underneath. Is this something I can do myself? What equipment do I need, and can I hire it?