Facade repair issues: references, stucco vs brick and more...

Hi everybody, apologies in advance for the long post and many questions, but our condo board is wrestling with a number of issues related to a problem with the stucco facade on our four story building in Carroll Gardens. The issue: we were alerted to the facade problem when we discovered water getting into our apartment above one of the front windows (the water is not visibly coming in – even when it rains – but there is clearly a lot of moisture above the window. So much so that the sheetrock is now starting to fall off). On closer inspection this was not surprising. There are numerous cracks in the facade including one running vertically all the way down to our living room window. There is also a significant crack running horizontally across the full width of the building just below the parapet. Some (but not all) of the vertical cracks run down from this horizontal crack.  Additionally at least three of the blocks forming the coping are gone leaving only the (porous) mortar exposed. Finally, there are at least two noticeable “bulges” in the facade. One next to a windowsill on the top floor unit, and another above the ground floor unit (perhaps where a steel beam used when it was originally a shopfront has buckled (?! – TBD).  Looking closely at the paintwork on the stucco it’s evident that the facade has been patched at least several times before. We’ve now had five different facade specialists inspect the building and it’s clear the facade needs to be fixed, but the exact scope of the work and who is best to do it is still not clear. So our Condo Board has some important questions…  **1\. References ** We’ve been most impressed by Edson USA and J. Mos Brownstone Authority.  Can anyone here tell me about their experiences using either one of these companies – ideally folks who have used them recently, as well as those of you who had work done 5-15 years ago.  I’ve read all the previous posts on here about facade repair and seen the (often mixed) reviews for others companies. Are there any other companies who users believe do as good a job as (or better than) Edson or J.Mos? **2\. Condition of original brick once stucco is removed ** There is some debate about whether we will simply be able to restore the original brickwork once the stucco has been removed. (Apparently there’s a (small?) chance the original brick will be OK – perhaps if the stucco was attached using wire mesh instead of scarifying). Has anyone here removed a stucco facade and been able to simply use the original underlying brickwork? Did you know that you would be able to do that before the stucco was removed and if so how?  **3\. Rebuilding brick facade vs re-stuccoing ** Assuming the original brick work is not salvageable, we’ll either need to re-stucco or replace the brick wall. It seems the later is more expensive, but it also seems that, when it comes to resale value, brick is more highly valued (assuming it is done well) than a stucco facade. I’m not sure if this is true but it would be really helpful to hear other people’s experiences with this trade off.  Specifically how much more did it cost you to have the brick replaced rather than re-stuccoing and how much do you think (know) that that increased the value of your property? And which are the best companies to do that kind of work?  **4\. Rebuilding the parapet** There is also debate amongst the different companies as to whether the parapet needs to be rebuilt. Has anyone had a similar experience with a big horizontal crack just beneath their parapet?   Is this just a question that should be answered by an engineer or covered by a contingency in the contract (i.e if once the stucco is removed it is clear the parapet needs to be rebuilt, it will cost an additional $X) **5\. Any other lessons ** We’d really appreciate hearing any other wisdom from people who have been through similar situations (things to be look out for, hidden surprises, cost overruns etc etc) Many thanks.