Large stone around here with the rain events that we had last year have all leaked. We just replaced the entire facade of a home in Arlington that was leaking and was all done improperly as well.

I will firmly disagree with whomever said that they could remove that mortar and re-do it for two reasons:

1. You will work harder to preserve the stone and not damage it than just gutting the exterior
2. You won't be able to address what is likely going to be sheathing rot and drainage plane issues unless you pull it all off.

That stone appears to be like it was part of a remodel and not original to the home. I would like to know how the mason did that work prior. Flashing details must be redundant and exacting. If they skipped anything, that water will want to go inward and clearly they must have. You would probably get a couple of years out of a re-pointing and some breathable sealant, but you would be back to square 1 after a little bit and a hard rain.

Thanks! The stone is not engineered and is original with the house (1993). The leak(s) appear to be old and we can't tell if it is isolated to one area or seeping in slowly through the wall. We have Hardie Plank siding that was installed incorrectly as well (ugh). Thank you!

Have you checked your attic to see if maybe you have a roof leak that is pooling on the top plate Of the exterior wall. From the pic, the water seems very well distributed across the face of the wall. if the wires to outlets are coming from the attic, I’d start looking where they penetrate the top plate

A properly built masonry wall does not rely on the mortar to keep the water out. I'd have an area of the stone removed and see what it looks like underneath. There should be a minimum 1" air space and a quality water barrier. The air space shouldn't be packed with mortar. The ties shouldn't be rusting out. Is there flashing at the heads and sill? Are there weep holes?

Sounds like we need to find the right contractor who is willing to spend the time to diagnose the problem. If anyone has suggestions for who that might be in Northern Virginia, please send them my way. Thank you for all the suggestions!

Start by checking in the attic like lkbum mentioned. If the stone is original, it leaking all of a sudden is unlikely. Keep in mind, we have had record rainstorms in this region over the last year.

A water test of the wall and windows would be warranted here as would some selective sheathing demo to see how this wall was constructed. If it was a "lick and stick" type application over wire lathe, the rains that we had last year (directional and massive volumes) could have highlighted a deficiency in that wall construction somewhere that previously did not manifest.