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Balcony above Living Space

Last Post 18 Feb 2014 06:49 PM by QL. 8 Replies.

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ricky_005

Basic Member

Posts:313

16 Feb 2014 04:17 PM
Hoping someone can help me on some possible construction details/method that would ensure there are no water leaks from the balcony to living space below. I have buzzed around the web looking for some methods and details that have already been proven to work well, but no luck. I have some Ideas rambling around in my head but want to see what you guys think. The exterior walls will be ICF construction .... The exterior walls on second floor which are inset beyond the building line will be metal SIP panels. Here is a pic of the home... See the Balcony on second floor over the living space ..... How would you design the balcony floor so it would never leak water down below into the living space?

Alton

Veteran Member

Posts:2164

16 Feb 2014 06:00 PM
Ricky, There is a fancy house in Auburn/Opelika area that has a balcony over the foyer. Repeatedly painting the foyer ceiling does not stop the leak. A simple mistake in the height of the door sill to the balcony prevents flashing from being effectively installed. There should have been a step down to the balcony. Various trades have looked at this house and cannot seem to find a way to flash between the sill and balcony floor because of a lack of space. I think some offered to remove the balcony and re-build it with a step down. Moral of this story: I do not like open space over living space even if it can be flashed properly.

Residential Designer & Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period . 334 826-3979

ICFHybrid

Veteran Member

Posts:3039

16 Feb 2014 06:05 PM
How would you design the balcony floor so it would never leak water down below into the living space? That's a tough one, but the answer is generally to make the balcony floor like a flat roof.

ricky_005

Basic Member

Posts:313

16 Feb 2014 06:27 PM
@Alton Surprised the building inspector didn't catch that one. That's a major no no .... should have had at minimum a 2" step down. I'm not crazy about it being over the living space either, but that's what makes it unique. I am thinking the best solution is to do a ICF floor just for the balcony area only. I will have ICF walls on 3 sides of the room below to tie into. It will still require a water proof membrane on top of concrete floor and 2"+ up around the edges. As we all know concrete will crack and wick moisture. Any ideas of the type of membrane that will accept floor tiles? Maybe use some of the same techniques used for doing water tight custom showers? Span on ICF floor somewhere between 12 ft. to 13 ft.

Alton

Veteran Member

Posts:2164

16 Feb 2014 08:21 PM
See http://www.schluter.com/6_1_ditra.aspx Recommended for under tiles in showers. If you install tile outside, just make sure it is the frostproof type. You might want to consider using certain types of epoxy instead of acrylic mastic. Do avoid sanded grout, especially outside where it will take on stains. There are several ways to support concrete for the floor. You probably know about Lite-Deck, Insul-Deck, SCIPs, etc. but have you seen the concrete form with metal on top and bottom that does not leak? See https://www.google.com/search?q=Op-...18&bih=820 called OP-deck.

Residential Designer & Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period . 334 826-3979

ricky_005

Basic Member

Posts:313

16 Feb 2014 09:35 PM
Never ran across the OP-Deck ... Looks like a rather expensive route. Main things is it needs to be an economical insulated deck that has a minimal amount of thermal bridging. HVAC duct I guess will need to be run in a drop ceiling/soffit in that area.

ricky_005

Basic Member

Posts:313

16 Feb 2014 11:23 PM
Posted By ICFHybrid on 16 Feb 2014 06:05 PM How would you design the balcony floor so it would never leak water down below into the living space? That's a tough one, but the answer is generally to make the balcony floor like a flat roof. Sorta the same thing I was thinking.... except they where water proofing details more like a custom tiled shower ..... Guess I should look into some flat roof details also maybe create something like a hybrid Roof Shower .... Hahaha