Sheetrock directly on brick?

On inspection of the house we have agreed to buy we noted a crack in the sheetrock over the place where an exterior door used to be.The agent told us that when the present owner's husband died she had the door closed off.Outside,the steps up to the closed door in this old brick home look attractive and we agree there was no rerason to remove the door,try to match up the brick and fill it in. Now the wall has been fixed and we learn that the inside walls were brick which she had covered with sheetrock at the same time.The inside of the door is flush with the brick level so the sheetrock patch over the door is flush with the rest of the inside wall.

1)Shouldn't there be a space between the old door and sheetrock patch for vapor barrier and insulation-we get 70 plus inches of rain/year here on the Gulf Coast? 2)Shouldn't the sheetrock over the walls be on furring strips? 3)I believe we can walk away from this deal because the disclosure says that "no renovations were done".But we like everything else and would prefer to fix it.What needs to be done-remove sheetrock and interior bricks and apply sheetrock to studs? Thanks Hank
Reply to
Henry B.
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It is kind of hard to say without tearing into the wall. Insulation is good, but if the wall and door served well before the sheetrock was added, it should not need more insulation now. The vapor barrier is something I would want, but they don't take up much room and could very well be there.

You don't know the true construction of the wall and you did not indicate how old the home was or the work was.

My suggestion is it may be OK but you are not going to know going in, unless the seller would like to pay for a fair amount of work and you seem to be concerned about it and I doubt if that concern is going to go away any time soon, so I suggest you walk.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

i think this is a big factor. if it was fixed 15 years ago and isnt having problems except for one crack, its probably fine. if it was fixed two years ago you dont know...

randy

i dont disagree, but at the same time, likely this isnt really that big of a deal. even if you have to tear it all out and replace it. you do need to be careful with vapor barriers though. if you put them in the wrong place, or put two of them up, you can create problems.

just remember this. there is no perfect house. not even a new one. all houses have flaws. the problem you describe sounds like a very minor and relatively inexpensive one. the brick is the structural element, the drywall is simply cosmetic.

i walked from a house a while back that had a plywood basement. they dug it out and just put plywood against 4x4's and filled it with dirt. no cement, no nothing. i dont care how many people told me it was 'fine' i wasnt going to believe it.

randy

Reply to
xrongor

Properly engineered plywood has proven to be good. However if they were using standard plywood and did not properly engineer it, then they are sure to have problems. I also can't be used in some soil conditions.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

im sure it was engineered. and all the research i did said, as you do, that it was probably ok. i just personally didnt want to go there. call me silly but i want a rock under my house

randy

Reply to
xrongor

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