On 5/2/2009 12:43 PM TomYoung spake thus:

I've got some pretty severe termite and dry rot problems around a tub
area. The interior of the bathroom has been completely removed and
I'm looking at the studs on the exterior wall that forms the tub
area. In a couple of areas the sole plate is completely gone and the
studs are just hanging from the top plate.

The exterior wall is stucco and, based on what I've read on the
Internet, I should also be looking at sheathing that's been nailed to
the exterior studs to provide a base for the building paper, spacers
and wire mesh to which the stucco is applied. But I'm not.

What I'm seeing is the building paper and wire mesh and, in some
places where the building paper is gone, the "backside" of the
stucco. No sheathing. I assume this is some sort of alternate method
of applying stucco to an exterior wall. Is that the case?

Yes, you could call it an "alternate method"; certainly not a *good* method.

I've worked on houses where the exterior sheathing was not
continuous--1x boards nailed over the studs with spaces between them,
like the way roofs are sometimes done. This is obviously done to save
material, and is not the ideal way to do things. Is it possible that
there are sheathing boards under that building paper with spaces between
them?

What's the best way to remove these studs from the exterior wall
without damaging the stucco? If the studs were nailed to sheathing
I'd be tempted to simply pry them loose but that seems risky given the
situation.

My guess is "no way". To fix the wall you're going to have to remove the
stucco, re-frame the wall, sheathe it properly, then re-stucco it.


--
Save the Planet
Kill Yourself

- motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/)