How To Replace A Leaking 2nd Floor Balcony Deck & Make It Bullet Proof? Part 1.
Let's start at the beginning. Do not place an uncovered 2nd floor balcony deck on your home! Period. By that I mean, a balcony deck that is exposed to the weather. Oh, but they look so cute and there is this fabulous view! In Central Florida they should be enclosed by a roof, walls, windows and doors. In Florida, any balcony deck that is exposed to the weather will eventually leak, period. Perhaps, if you live in Arizona, in the desert, you will get away with it but certainly not in an area that receives a significant amount of inclement weather.
The USA is a big country with lots of different weather conditions. Florida gets hurricanes, tropical storms, horizontal driving rains and end of the world type rainstorms, almost every afternoon in our summer months. Orlando has a 130 MPH wind code. Can you even imagine a 130 MPH wind driven rain? Do you only want your balcony deck not to leak when weather conditions are favorable?
It's a problem I see quite often, a Customer sees something in a magazine they think is really cool and ask for it in a part of the USA where the entire idea will fail or they want to take an idea from where they used to live an bring it with them to the Orlando area.
Read More- Should I Put A Balcony Deck On My Custom Home?
Ok, so you are bound and determined to have a balcony deck on your home even though I've advised against it or worse you already have one on your home. Now what? This multi part post will take you step by step through the process of replacing your leaking deck or how to install the deck the first time with the highest probability it will not leak in the foreseeable future, fingers crossed.
The problem with any deck, it has to be installed almost perfectly and even then it's iffy. Home building is far from a perfect world and all it takes is a pin hole for a water leak. My 30 years of building experience teaches me this.
Above photo: Notice how exposed the balcony is to the weather. It's not like it's tucked into a protected niche. It's like sticking your chin out and daring somebody to take a shot!
Above Photo: So what's the problem, everything looks great up here, right? This door is protected by a 10' projected, covered roof so it is not directly exposed to the weather and that's really important.
Above: Photo of a leaking 2nd floor tiled balcony deck.
A tiled deck is even more likely to leak due to the extreme expansion and contraction forces. Imagine a hot summer day when the tile deck is 150 degrees, too hot to touch and it starts to rain. The deck gets pelted with cold rain at a temperature between 32-80 degrees, depending upon weather conditions. This situation can result in rapid, as well as significant movement. As the tile expands and contracts it has a tendency to tear the waterproof membrane below. It's not as pretty but a floating wood deck (TREX) is less likely to leak as it is separated from the waterproof membrane below.
It's best to install a light color tile as it will expand and contract less than a solid black surface.
The deck we are replacing is constructed of 2x10 floor joists (16" O.C.), 2 layers of AdvanTech sub-flooring, a waterproof membrane with tile applied above.
Floor tile itself, on an exterior application like this is never going to be waterproof, no matter how many times you apply a clear sealer. "I don't care what the TV commercial with the guy in the rowboat says". The waterproofing layer is installed below the tile, that's why it's there because the tile and grout surface is going to leak. The issue with tile, how to attach it to the deck without longterm damage to the waterproofing membrane below and at the same time manage the water that will penetrate the tile flooring?
Read More- Bad homebuilding ideas!
Have an awesome day!
Mike
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