Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Ok - is this odd or what?

I have a 4 year old home that is 1/4 stucco (front of the home) with the remainder being masonite.

While redecorating I pulled out a few nails that had pictures hanging on them and I noticed that the ends are RUSTED. This is only happening on the interior wall in the front of the house - the inside of the stuccoed wall...

I have read & heard of the horror stories of people that have old style stucco and it captured moisture between the walls that led to the eventual rotting of the walls from within.

I know it takes years to see the full effects and would like to avert the damage ASAP.

How can I tell if the wall is keeping moisture in the insultation or worse - leaking water behind the stucco?

thx
R

That just doesn't sound right, the ends of the nails being rusted. I don't know of any easy way to check the wall cavity other than cutting a hole in the wall and patching it later. If it were my house, I would go to the trouble of doing that.

Are you sure the stucco on the exterior is really the conventional 3/4" to 7/8" thick cement based stucco? While I have heard of a few problems with conventional stucco, the vast majority of problems I have heard about are with the synthetic stucco (EIFS). There have been so many documented problems with EIFS that we will not use it on any of our projects. If you don't know what EIFS is, it's a synthetic material that is applied over styrofoam insulation to a thickness that I would guess to be maybe 3/16" to 1/4".

At any rate, I would encourage you to check this out further. I would also suggest you check the joints around windows, doors, or other penetrations for any gaps in caulking or other areas water could penetrate the wall from the exterior. I would also look at the intersection between the stucco and the masonite.

Bruce