I have an aluminum porch that I want to enclose as a family room. I am going to construct a permanent structure to replace the aluminum complete with A/C ducts and lighting. My problem is how do I install drywall over the rough stucco finish that was the exterior wall. I thought of trying to shim 2×2’s and installing the drywall on the 2×2’s. Has anyone thought of an eaiser method?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Listeners write in about ground-source heat pumps and weatherstripping and ask questions about engineered siding, concrete that slopes the wrong way, and why houses have pitched roofs.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Fine Home Building
Follow
-
Fine Homebuilding
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial Now -
GBA Prime
Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
Keep in mind that concrete is like a slow acting sponge. There is water vapor in its pores that will slowly come out after you cover it, possibly causing mold or rot on the underside of your newly built walls.
If since this is a long term change, you can get a diamond masonary blade for a circular saw for about $50. You will cut at the outer edge of your planned walls, between 1/2 to 1" deep into the stucco to get to the underlying wire or mesh. Cut around any door and window openings as well. After hammering it a little to break it up, you can then peel it off. There are small nails holding the mesh onto the studs. The stucco is heavy, but can be broken down to easily managed bits.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
You don't need to use 2x2s; 1x3 would be sufficient.
The way to install these is with TapCons (a self-tapping concrete screw). You need to knock off the worst of the high spots on the stucco with a trowel or brick chisel and then set up a series of stringlines to give you a reference plane. Set up three or four stringlines perpendicular to the run of the furring.
Lay the 1x3s on the stucco and shim behind them where necessary with asphalt shingle scraps to bring them as close to the plane as you can without going over. Run the TapCon right through the shim so it stays there. When you have the 1x3s attached and relatively plane, fine tune them with cardboard gyprock shims until it's flat enough to hang the rock, then go to town....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
If the stucco is flat enough and has never been painted, you might be able to get a plasterer to skim coat it smooth. Otherwise, the best idea is to just demo it to the studs and rock it like any other interior wall.
Leaving the stucco gives you a weird thick wall that looks wrong and gives away the fact that this is a remodel. It's also a pain for any subsequent work you want to do there, like electrical. Remember that you have to meet the NEC six foot rule. Every point along that wall must be within 6 ft. of a plug.
-- J.S.