# Balcony water leak



## JCF (Nov 25, 2010)

We just purchased a new home with a balcony. Shortly after living in it, I noticed there was no slope to the tile and water pooled on it. After arguing with the builder about it, he agreed to fix it. In the meantime, it leaked into our garage cieling. He repaired the drywall damage about 3 wk ago and is just getting to the balcony. Okay, so he put down a rubber membrane on top of the press board. Then on top of that, he put what he called wonderboard. It looks like some type of cement board. Okay, then he put tile on top of that. My concern is, the rubber membrane and cement board are flat, no outward slope. He is sloping the tile layer by putting alot of the adhesive, white mud looking compound on the tiles closest to the house and using less at it comes off the balcony. He says the tile will be sealed and it will not let water through. I am having trouble buying that but just wondering what happens when the water penetrates the tile. Please help.


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

Can you post a diagram or photograph showing where the press board is, where the membrane is, where the wonderboard is, and where the tile is, etc. etc.?

How many inches can the balcony floor be built up before you start to obstruct the door going into the building?

You want to put down some floor "leveling" compound over the entire surface of the balcony floor first to create a slope out away from the building. Then put down something waterproof over the entire surface (could include a membrane) so that if water is spilled on it the water flows to the outside edge and drips off and does not go under the waterproof surface on any side.

You don't want a membrane on the floor first because the floor leveling compound on top won't stick to it.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

This sounds like an idiotic attempt at a repair.
Pressboard?
Cement board over a rubber membrane? What connects the two? Did he screw through the membrane? Maybe thinset it to the membrane?
Does this guy work for, "Hansel and Gretel" construction?
Ron


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## JCF (Nov 25, 2010)

Okay, not sure if they are attached or not. Yeah, I have a real problem. The guy is convinced and trying to convince me it is done correctly. He is my contractor and he subs everything out so not sure he is familiar with troubleshooting. He is going to fix it this way and not sure what I can do. I prefer not to get attorneys involved but he has known about th problem since I told him in Aug. He said I was wrong about it sloping in initially so I showed him with a bucket of water and a 5 ft level. He said there was no way it would leak before he could get to it and guess what, it rained in on it and it leaked in our garage. I need a therapist for anger management at the moment.

The problem is there is not enough slope from the bottom of the door to the opposite side of the balcony. In fact, the only slope there may be back towards the house. 

If you look at the pictures, it shows the membrane hanging over the sides of the house. That membrane is sitting on top of particle board, neither which are sloped unless it is back towards the house. Then he put cement board down. There should be a pic of it in the group. This is not slanted either. On top of that, he put tiles and told me the tiles would keep the water out and off the cement board and membrane. I know very little about building but I am having trouble buying it. To make matters worse, I put a level on the tiles today that he tried to slope using the mudd/adhesive and they still slope back to the house. 

I really dont want him to finish the project and put the bricks back on my house like this. Please help!!!!!


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## JCF (Nov 25, 2010)

Just to be sure I answered the questions. I dont think there is any room to make a slope. If it goes up a mm it will be above the threshold. 

Also, the cement board is in between the rubber membrane and the tile. 

Thanks in advance for any help here.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

This *is* an idiotic attempt at a repair. This might not be the stupidist thing I've seen, but it's up there.
It needs to be ripped off down to the floor joists( if indeed flakeboard has been used and you're not calling OSB by the wrong name). There needs to be pitch incorporated into the framing. 
This person needs to be fired and someone who knows what he's doing needs to be hired.
Ron


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