Termite Damaged Stucco Molding
Termite damage stucco molding is pretty common in a situation
where the wood framing is even with the garage floor. In this case the
story is actually level with the wood framing creating even a bigger
chance for moisture to accumulate and destroy the framing.
This problem can be fixed quite inexpensively but as a home inspector
you will have no idea what kind of damage is behind the walls. You can
use the awl and tried to poke it through the damage stucco molding and
to the wood framing.
If the wood awl stops and doesn't go far into the framing it is probably
in decent shape, however if the awl goes into the wood framing there is
a good chance it will have to be replaced as soon as possible.
This is an extremely difficult problem to fix long term. As the repairs
are being made try not to repair them in the same manner as they were
originally constructed. There are a few different ways to correct this
situation in order to keep it from happening again.