How to add studs to a brick wall

[Sara Johnson]

Hi folks! My husband and I are in the middle of gutting and remodeling one of the bathrooms in our 1917 brick triplex in Chicago. The tub/shower sits along the exterior brick wall. Unfortunately the original setup was not waterproofed very well so we ended up removing the studs from that wall because they were all rotted out. Does anyone have any experience in furring up a brick wall for durock? We are thinking either construction adhesive on the wood with penny nails hammered through into the mortar to hold the boards place while the adhesive is curing, or to drill Tapcon masonry screws through the boards and into the brick while being really careful not to over-torque and bust out the brick... We don't have much experience with brick and would love any and all advice you have on this. Pictures added for reference (don't worry we plan on reframing the shower wall once we get new copper plumbing in, but first we need the studs in so we know where the bathtub will sit)

[Carini Rochester]

My first option would be to anchor a bottom plate to the floor and a top plate to the ceiling and attach studs to the two plates and not have any actual attachment to the brick. (In fact keep a half inch gap between the wood and the brick.) For thickness of insulation reasons, 2x6 studs against the outside wall would be best, or 2x4 studs and spray foam insulation (R=19 or 21) (R=13 in a 2x4 stud would be OK.) If this is not feasible for some reason, then your tapcon idea is better than the adhesive and nails. Getting your depth and width dimensions may be critical if you're installing a tub/shower unit, maybe not so critical if you're building a custom shower stall. So, getting these dimensions right may be more important than allowing for greater thickness of insulation.