I'm rehabbing a 1920 farmhouse (including removing the old falling down plaster and lath) which has 1x8 shiplap boards on the interior side of most of the exterior walls (and generally on one side of each interior wall as well).

Knowing that these boards add some amount of structural stability of the house, can I remove them now, and in a year or two when I reside the house, install plywood sheathing to the *exterior* of the exterior walls (thus restoring the 'structure')?

Another option would be to replace them now with plywood on the interior of the exterior walls(I've already removed some, and they get pretty beat up in the process).

es

I am faced with the same construction at my house, does anyone have any input?

Caution should be taken before attempting this type of work when removal of a structural element of the building is involved. Especially since this building was constructed in 1920.

Back then there was virtually no building code and/or inspections to regulate how a house was built. Therefore there are many different types of construction and many were built by the home owner not a contractor.

The most common type of construction back then was the balloon frame. Without plywood they used diagonal or shiplap boards to give the walls lateral stability.

The only way to be sure would be to have a structural engineer or qualified general contractor to examine the building first. The plywood would work but the main concern is how much of the shiplap sheathing you can remove at one time before replacing it with plywood.

Glenn