Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 08, 2011 3:09 pm We are planning to knock down and rebuild in Eastern Melbourne. The current house has two balconies - one overlying the meals area and one the front entry, both of which have leaked despite the best efforts of two builders. The balconies are one of the few parts of the current house that we like but we are obviously wary of putting them in the new house. One of the builders we have had through said that they never build balconies above the actual house (as opposed to being over a verandah or al fresco) because they always leak. The other said that iff the balconies are done right there is nothing wrong with putting them over the house. So has anyone had a balcony over their house which doesn't leak? Re: Does your balcony leak? 2Feb 08, 2011 3:58 pm We have a balcony at the front of the house which is part of the ceiling for the front lounge. My FIL who is a building designer in QLD was concerned about its inclusion and as a result of our questioning about their methods of waterproofing etc the engineer and draftperson with our builder actually included some extra detailed drawings for our site supervisor. Our balcony is tiled so the waterproofing underneath and up the sides (as well as underneath the door/windows) is of utmost importance, we have weep holes and flashing on the bricked sides of the balcony (as bricks are porous) and the balustrades of the front railing had to be installed prior to the waterproofing as they were screwed into the balcony. The balcony itself should also have a fall towards the front to prevent water pooling. We monitored this aspect of the build very closely to ensure that things were done according to the plans/drawings. We believe we have done everything in our power and with the knowledge of my FIL to back us up to prevent our balcony leaking. Will post some pictures to give an idea of the level of complexity. Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: Does your balcony leak? 3Feb 08, 2011 6:49 pm Hi When we were getting quotes for a holiday house design we originally had balconies over two living areas, three different builders said they strongly recommended against them due to the difficulty of them leaking, said they can do it but it would cost allot more. Our neighbour recently built a hebel place with balcony over the main bedroom, leaked within 6 months causing allot of damage. Re: Does your balcony leak? 4Feb 08, 2011 7:13 pm They don't leak if the correct membrane is used and applied as per the manufacturers spec. We do atleast 4000 sq mtrs of balconies per year.... 10,000 sq mtrs of roof area each year, no one has had any leaks... I can assure you the owners and builders would be 'on my tail' if they were not happy. Any builder that doesn't do balconies because of waterproofing have had a a narrow existance. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Does your balcony leak? 5Feb 08, 2011 7:42 pm Agree about the builders, the two builders who pretty well said they wouldn't do them were cheaper big name builders, the third who was a local builder, highly regarded with many HIA awards would but said they would cost allot more because they wouldn't take a risk... The neighbours place was built by another large builder with a good reputation though... If you make sure all taps inside and out are turned off, what does the water meter show if you leave it for a while. 2 20235 Hi all, I am hoping someone has some ideas as to what is causing my bathroom leak. The leaking appears to mainly happen when we turn the sink basins on. It takes a while… 0 5080 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Are you doing this with a building permit? Conversion of a non habitable room into a habitable room requires building permit. 3 17318 |