rotten walls between stucco and plaster.
Ok, here’s the situation… I started some work for a friend/client on an older house she recently purchased. Simple stuff really…replacing some exterior fascia, fixing what seemed to be a small amount of water damage, some rotted exterior casing, etc. Well, many of you know what happens when you start opening up walls on a old house. There were whole wall sections where the framing was just gone. Literally nothing but a pile of mulch in the bottom of the wall. Even the rim and end joists in a couple of areas were gone. Now the rub is this…the exterior stucco is in great shape. A solid 1″ thick everywhere I can see with no cracks or structural defects. The stucco has been just standing there for quite some time now without being attached to anything, and until the walls were opened up from the inside, you’d never guess that the walls would look like they do. I have yet to think of a good reason that the stucco should have to be removed and be redone, so what I’m thinking is this…
1. Tear out enough plaster to be able to reframe from the inside and establish clean edges to tie back into.
2. Tear out all rotten framing, sheathing etc.
3. Install new framing and blocking, sister up joist and rafter ends as needed, slide in rim sections from above and toenail from basement below, basically replicate all the functions of the old framing (even if it isn’t how you’d frame it from scratch.)
4. Here’s the key…spray urethane foam into all of the new wall sections so that it fills the gap between the new framing and the stucco and bonds to the remaining sound sheathing and tar paper on the perimeter of the previously rotten areas.
On the plus side, this will establish a moisture barrier between the stucco and the new framing, provide a relatively stiff material to transmit any exterior force applied to the stucco to the framing, and somewhat bond the stucco to the framing.
On the negative side, there would be no drainage plane behind the stucco in these areas (they are typically floor to ceiling), and the bond to framing obviously wouldn’t be as strong as lath nailed off to sheathing. But on the last point, if the stucco has held up this long not bonded or backed by anything, is it really a big deal?
Am I on crack, or is this a reasonable solution? Because of the setup / cleanup / multiple application aspect to stucco patching, this would probably save around five to six thousand dollars.
Replies
Oh yeah, finding and fixing the moisture intrusion issues that led to this is a given.
Since none of the really good guys haven't responded yet, I'll throw this at ya!
Try narcotics anonymous @ 1-800-CRACK-PIPE.
Seriously though........ I've ran across this problem lots! I will usually, after shoring, remove all the bad lumber, strip off the paper, and use spray adhesive to apply the new paper to the back side of the stucco starting from the top and working down (since your on the inside and not the outside).
Then reframe the wall as required.
Use a wonder board type of screw from the outside into the new framing to attach the existing stucco to your new framing.
That is the best method that I have come up with so far.
So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
-Jack
I was considering a similiar approach as well...if you spray the adhesive in vertical stripes it would still alow somewhat of a drainage plain. My concern is the lack of support behind the stucco if someone leans something heavy against the wall such as a ladder. I suppose I could insert some shim blocks between the stucco and the new framing and screw from the outside through these. I'm curious if anyone has an opinion on whether my foam idea would provide enought support / attachment as this would eliminate having to drill and screw through the stucco and then caulk over the fasteners.
I think I'll bump myself...bump.
Ok, my last bump attempt...C'mon guys...this isn't tyvek vs. tar paper for the umteenth time.
Here in CA, 90% of the houses are stucco so I'm reasonably familiar with it. I'm having trouble understanding how your stucco has managed to stay intact since it relies on the framing for support.
In a typical stucco installation, a building paper backed wire mesh (like chicken wire) is stapled to the framing with 1" crown, 1-1/2" staples every few inches. Then, the first coat of stucco is sprayed on. When it has set up, the second coat is applied followed by the texturing. Basically, the stucco is tied to (and supported by) the hundreds (thousands?) of staples in the framing. If the framing goes bad due to rot, termites, etc. the stucco in the affected area loses its support. If the damage is over a large enough area, you have a "sheet" of stucco just waiting for a reason to come crashing down.
I've fixed small areas of damaged framing from inside the house by cutting away the damage, and sistering in new material with construction adhesive against the stucco. The operative word here is "small" areas. Anything more than two studs, I'll be breaking out the stucco, making the repair, installing new wire mesh and and patching the stucco.