Bricks blown/falling apart on external wall

[sunburyashes]

Property: 1850's Cottage
Wall: 9" Solid
Problem: Internal Damp & Blown bricks

I have approx 30-50 bricks (maybe more once render is removed)that will need to be replaced as they are completely shot, the property does not have any engineering bricks in place and the house appears to have had a chemical damp proof applied years ago but thatn looks shot as well.
My question is; Can I remove the bricks safely? i.e would I need support?
Could I replace a row or 2 of them with engineering bricks? i.e A row at the base would this help?

 

[alittlerespect]

You don't need to go as far as using an engineering or semi-engineering brick, an old (or new)fashioned fired clay brick will stand you in good stead, who knows you may get a brick that matches (perhaps not exactly but it will show you tried!)

You should remove and replace the bricks in a piecemeal fashion, take as long as you like, make sure you rake back the mortar joints by say 25mm and then repoint the whole of the affected area on the same day (you will then minimise having a hotch potch of mortar mixes for the pointing.) If you leave any bricks out overnight and the heaven's open up, you could have a serious problem with rainwater ingress where bricks are missing. The jobs fiddly but you won't have any structural issues to consider.

One late thought, you will need to take care replacing the bricks as there is no guarantee that the new bricks will go back the same way as the old bricks and you need to avoid disturbing the internal plaster finish through trying to tap the new brick in place because it is sitting proud on the external face. Answer will be to do a dry run (no mortar) and if the bricks stand proud try and rake out some of the plaster from behind the brick until the brick fits.

Regards