Leaking balcony repairs Melbourne

• Failed or missing waterproof membrane The most common cause. Membranes have a service life, and many older balconies were never properly waterproofed to begin with.
• Cracked or perished grout and movement joints Tiles are not waterproof. Grout is the first thing water gets through.
• Inadequate falls The balcony does not drain to the outlet, so water pools and sits on the weakest points.
• Blocked or poorly detailed drainage Outlets that are blocked, set too high, or have no connection to the membrane below.
• Failed door thresholds Insufficient step-down or missing flashing at the door, letting water run straight back inside.
• Perimeter and penetration detailing Balustrade posts drilled through the membrane after it was installed is a classic one.

Look for water stains, bubbling paint or efflorescence on the ceiling or walls beneath the balcony; a musty smell in the room below; drummy, lifting or cracked tiles; rust stains or spalling concrete on the balcony soffit or edge; and water pooling on the balcony after rain instead of draining away.

Rust stains and flaking concrete on the underside are the ones to act on quickly. That is reinforcement already corroding, and it gets more expensive every season it is left.

1. Find the actual entry point — we assess falls, drainage, thresholds, penetrations and the condition of the tiling and grout before deciding on a scope. Water shows up a long way from where it gets in.
2. Repair the substrate — any concrete cracking or spalling is remediated first. There is no point putting a new membrane over deteriorating concrete.
3. Correct the falls — screeding to a proper fall toward the outlet so the balcony drains rather than ponds.
4. Waterproof — installing a new membrane system with proper detailing at upturns, corners, penetrations and the door threshold, and bond breakers at movement joints.
5. Reinstate the finish — retiling or recoating, with flexible sealant to movement joints rather than rigid grout.

Not always. Where the substrate is sound, the falls are adequate and the problem is confined to grout and joints, a liquid-applied topical system over the existing tiles can be a legitimate and much cheaper solution. Where the membrane below has failed, the falls are wrong, or the concrete is spalling, tiles have to come up — and any contractor who tells you otherwise is selling you a repeat job. We will tell you which situation you are in before you commit to a scope.

We work regularly with owners corporations, property managers and building managers on balcony remediation, including multi-unit programmes where several balconies are staged over time. We provide written assessments and photographic documentation suitable for committee approval and insurance purposes.

We also carry out concrete crack and spalling repairs, render crack repairs and cladding repairs and restoration.

• HeliFix crack stitching
• Render crack repairs
• Concrete crack repairs
• Cladding repairs