Correcting Bowed Brick Facade of Rowhome

[Adam Wodka]

I recently purchased a two-story rowhome in South Philly with a nice brick facade. Unfortunately though, the facade has a clear bow coming out about 2-3 inches in the middle. I've been told by the inspector and my realtor that installing star bolts is the best course of action to mitigate further bowing, which I've (mildly reluctantly) accepted. 

One of the contractors I'm speaking with suggesting parging the brick from the interior of the house to better hold it together, in addition to installing star bolts. Does anyone have any thoughts on if that would be effective in preventing further movement

of the brick/worth it? He quoted me $750 for the parging and $1,000 per star bolt installation. 

Thanks for any thoughts you have.

[Rob Beeman]

@Adam Wodka  Adam, I have experienced this issue in Philly on projects. What I did was hire a structural engineer that met me at the property. He showed me where and how to run the bolts through the joists (how many, how far apart, how long, etc.), and where to place the washers and nuts and the "star" nuts on the exterior. I hired a contractor for the labor, I purchased the supplies, took before & after pics and had the engineer return after completion.  The engineer supplied a letter saying that it met the standards for repair (liability at that point was on him). It was awhile ago, but I think the engineer cost was around $350, and supplies/labor around $1500.