Just my opinion, but I think you may have a hard time just putting stucco back on the lower section and sealing the rest because even if you do seal it, moisture can still get in the bricks. On most of the soft brick buildings I have ever had anything to do with or have witnessed from other peoples homes, the soft brick was normally painted with usually a white paint to seal out the weather. Over the years the paint would peel off and people would see the natural brick look underneath and wanted that, so they would strip the white paint off. I personally love the looks of a brick building, but I hate the soft brick.
Just for shots and giggles, if you have a loose brick, take that brick and put it in a bucket with about and inch of water in the bottom and watch how much it soaks up. You'll be surprised. So now imagine trying to seal one and multiply that by a few thousand. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but just warning you that whatever you do is going to cost a little chunk of money.
Whatever you put on the bottom, you will have to keep in mind what is going to be above and coming down as far as moisture. Ideally, it would be great if you could put up something like Hardibacker siding and have flashing at the good brick line and overlap the Hardibacker. It would be sort of reversed with brick over siding instead of siding over brick.
But if you do find someone that can stucco over the lower bad section, I would take many before pic, after pics, and have a notarized guarantee on the workmanship. That is, even if you could get someone to guarantee the work.
A friend of mine used to live in an old one room schoolhouse that was remodeled in to a fantastic home. Walls were built inside of 2x4's and drywall, fully insulated. Over the time that he lived there, he had to have the mortar joints tuck pointed once in many areas. But you could see where there were numerous repairs over the years. From what I remember from working on his place, the brick on it was not a hard brick, but yet, not a real soft brick either. Sort of a medium hard I guess. Most of the one room schoolhouses around here are pretty much the natural brick with only a few being painted.
And with your brick being natural looking, I would imagine that you would not want to paint it. I know I wouldn't. You will have to hook up with an expert though that know the real in's and out's about bricks to see what can actually be done that will last and still let the bricks look good.
I know you have places around Wisconsin, but we have a brick place close that the owners really know their stuff. They have been in the concrete business and in the brick business as far back as I can remember. It would be a long distance call for you, but you could call them, or drop them an e-mail and get their opinion on what you can do. A phone calls a few cents or free if you have a cell, and an e-mail isn't going to cost you anything but your time to type things out and snap a few pics. The place I'm talking about is called "Mr. Concrete". Here is their info:
http://mrconcreteinc.com/contactus.htm
If you e-mail them, talk with Dave Duff. He is the owner and really knows his business.
Dave Duff, President
[email protected]
Joel Fulkerson, Sales Manager
[email protected]
John Richter, Sales Representative,
[email protected]
Jacquie Lowry, Office Manager,
[email protected]
Sales,
[email protected]
