@Marco Caza Thanks for the tips. I started doing the demolition today, since we have a week of clear skys forecasted now. (changes everyday), based on your advice I will be doing it in sections and tented. However, I began demoing the stucco and what I believed was a CMU Cement stucco wall, is turning out to be a Hallow brick Lime Mortar wall or Cement + Lime Mortart but definetly not pure cement. A little back story as to why this project began. The house sits directly on bed rock without a proper foundation and has a mold issue which appears to be a combination of high humidity and improperty drainage and waterproofing around the house. The goal was create a french drain system that had single uniform render from the bottom of the drain to 2.5' up the wall which would be fully waterproofed and then covered in stones. I am hesitant to continuing the demolition all the way passed the stucco, because the hallow brick are fragile. However, I have purchased Cement Mortar for this project and putting cement mortart on top of lime mortar is not allowed according to my research. and neither is applying the Waterproofing membrane that I purchased. So I am trying to figure out the best way to proceed to achieve the goal of create a waterproof drainage system around the house. 1. thought - Remove all the lime mortar. 2.5' up the wall and proceed as planned. 2. thought - Return the cement and waterproofer proceed with using a lime mortar system However, I am not sure that a stone veneer is allow over a lime mortar wall

@Marco Caza Good to know. Yeah that is what my research was showing. My understanding is the follow. 1. Lime Mortar = Needs to breathe - No veneer 2. Cement Mortar = Waterproof - Veneer ok 3. Lime + Cement Mortar = ? Can be waterproofed this has been unclear - Veneer ok I am not able to confirm what the Mortar on the wall actually is. I did a vingar test and it bubbled, but my understanding is that doesnt necessarily mean that it is pure lime. So there was an existing "Mortar Skirt" in place that was kicking the water way. However, it appeared porous and I believe it was trapping water underneath. Since removing it the mold has improved but not vanished. I attribute this to the water not being trapped under the existing "Mortar Skirts" Additionally, removing the Mortar has caused cracking higher up on the wall inside of the house. Which I believe would mean the mortart has rigidity and meaning there is cement in the mortar, but have no basis to determine what the motart mix is. Maybe I can run a couple of test mix mortars until I find something that looks similar in strength and appearance. below are some images and a rough detail of what the plan was. Let me know what your thougths are.