Attaching wood trim to stucco/block wall

[David Meiland]

I have to attach a couple of casing legs to a wall that has an inch of cement stucco over con block. The outer edges of the legs need attachment to the stucco, the inner edges will nail to a 2x wood jamb. Here's my theory: pre-drill 1/8" holes through the casing where I want the fasteners, hold the casing in place, extend the holes to mark the stucco, drill 3/8" holes into the stucco with a hammer drill, glue dowel studs into the holes, then screw the casing on with trimheads.

Other ideas?

[tjbnwi]

David,

Your process is the one I would use.

Epoxy, SS trim screws.

Tom

[Bill Robinson]

Tapcons David, Tapcons!

[Mark Parlee]

any pictures?

[David Meiland]

Bill... tapcons as a way of installing trim? Maybe I don't pay much attention to tapcons, but I needed slight-headed fasteners, so I used stainless trimheads into dowels glued into the wall. It was very easy to do. You can see the fastener holes in the photo, but after it's filled and repainted it will be groovy.

[Bill Robinson]

I am just lazier than you David.

I would have countersunk and tapconed it.

Then plugged or buttoned it.

If the connection to the wood is sound enough you can do it.

Your way is more carpenter-like.

I do not claim to be a carpenter, Shhhhhh!!

[kfc510]

David, what type of "dowel studs" did you epoxy in?
kevin

[David Meiland]

Kevin, short chunks of 3/8" red oak dowel and 5-minute epoxy.

The original trim that was on this opening was not fastened to the block areas at all, just the jamb. It's that way on other openings on the same facade. No real problems but I still felt like fastening both edges. The trim I used is VG fir 2x6, nice old stuff that cost about $50 per 8-footer.

[slimpickens]

David --

Is this the permanent fix for that temp door photo you posted a little bit ago? If so, looks great, man. The temp was pretty sweet too...

[David Meiland]

Yes, this is the permanent install. The original had a 3-0 full lite door centered between a pair of direct-set sidelights, which all got mashed by someone who hit the gas instead of the brake. Miraculously no one was walking past at the moment, and he also avoided cracking any of the masonry, which would have turned this into the structural job from hell.

There are original 2x8s lining the opening, flat against the block, which I had to leave and work around, and the net opening was a hair over 69". No way to put a pair of 3-0 doors in, but I was able to use a 3-6 and a 2-2 with about 1/8" shaved off of each one, and a flat astragal. The 2-2 is set with flush bolts and will normally be closed, but it can be opened in the summer so people can just float in and out through a wide opening. On the day of the accident, I tore everything out and left it until the evening, and the owner said she got a lot more walk-in traffic than usual due to the open no-doors feel, so we went this route.

[slimpickens]

Looks good. Real good, in fact. I like the different width doors -- a little more interesting that way. But since that's a commercial space, aren't the doors supposed to outswing? Seems like that's what I had to do on the few commercial jobs I did. Or maybe it has to do with building capacity.... I could be totally wrong.

[David Meiland]

On this one, since the doors are not recessed, they have to swing in, otherwise they would sweep the sidewalk. This building used to have a recessed entry, but it was changed at some point, probably in the 70s. Many but not all of the buildings along the street have recessed entries with outswing doors.