Balcony floor construction

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Permalink Reply by Paul H. Bilodeau on November 19, 2009 at 1:37pm

I assume that you don't want to go over the top on the "balcony" with a membrane or a walkable covering, that you want to keep the historic integrity of the Queen Anne. I've done a few balconies like you're talking about and always made a walkable deck over a pitched roof surface. The walkable deck can be any material you would like (1x4's) but attach it to "sleepers" that lay on a pitched weather tight surface. The weather tight surface underneath should drain out past your porch. There are systems that are out there that you can look up online to divert moisture and would be worth your time to inquire about. Hope any of this helps you out.

Paul B.

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Permalink Reply by LeRoy Williams on November 20, 2009 at 2:21am

Actually, there is a partial balcony over the front porch that has a layer of tin-plated steel (which I think is original) over the decking. I'm not against covering the decking, but would like to use something that looks like it could be original, possibly paintable.

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Permalink Reply by Paul H. Bilodeau on November 20, 2009 at 11:30am

Pictures would be a HUGE help, you know the saying about a thousand words. I'm now confused about a partial balcony. If you can include some pictures and I'll do the best I can to help. Thanks, Paul B.

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Permalink Reply by LeRoy Williams on November 21, 2009 at 4:31am

See attached photos. The first one shows the front partial balcony over the front porch and little round room. The columns and rails have been removed for reconstruction. This balcony has the painted tin / steel floor and does not need replaced, though there are a few holes in the metal and it could use another layer of something. The second is from several years ago while I was rebuilding the front porch. I added the brick work and built the floor back as it was originally. The back porch / balcony is more visible here, though not with much detail. The upper floor needs rebuilt to be water proof.

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Permalink Reply by Donald Mitchell on November 22, 2009 at 6:51am

Hi Leroy. You have a beautiful home! Most likely a tin floor on 1x4 decking was orriginal. One of ours has what I bielive to be the original, andt is like a flat tin shingle that interlocks at the edges. our other has a heavier gauge galvanized flat tin that was probably done in the early 1980s and will remain. One of the main things is that like a roof Everything MUST be flashed properly. I found this out the hard way having a ceiling damaged. While I`m not in love with the looks of the metal, It can be primed and painted and with a little imagination transformed with a painted on rug or tiles to look better.
Donnie

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Permalink Reply by Paul H. Bilodeau on November 22, 2009 at 1:50pm

Hi LeRoy, just want to first agree with Donald and say you have a beautiful home!
Second, have you contacted your towns historical society and talked to them about your issues. They usually have been involved with other historical structure renovations and have done the leg work for you finding craftsman and architects that specialize in this field.

Third, the two different area's (partial balcony/round balcony) should be treated separately and have different degree's of waterproofing. Your "round" balcony is over a LIVING SPACE. It has to be watertite and one small hole can ruin your structure underneath. My advise is while you have it apart take the time to do it right. "Think like water" Take the time to thoroughly research the best alternatives for you to make it watertite. Only you know your budget and how " historical" you want reproduce that balcony. I've known some home owners that want the same historical nails installed. Your call, but I can't stress enough to do that space right. I have done some work, (up here) with walkable membranes over living spaces but they do not qualify as historical by any means. I'll include a link but it's probably not what your looking for. www.duradek.com. There are some others but that's the only one that comes to mind.

The "partial" balcony you said was a complete "tear off" so you can start from scratch. Again you know how far you want to go but under your new 1X4's I'd go with at least a ice and watershield. It's billed to seal around penetrations "nails" and is used up here for mainly roof decks over eve's. Make sure what ever you use you run it up the side of your house under the siding and I usually counter flash over that. There are also water solutions that go under a deck. Start Googling keywords like waterproofing decks or something like that and you'll run across a plethora of companies that specialize in that field.

Lastly, beware of exterior door sills and flashing them or the lack there of. 90% of leak problems I run into are from inadequate flashing's under door sills. A bead of silicon is not enough! Make sure your waterproofing runs up UNDER your sill or flash the sill so it counter flashes over your water proofing. Either way a door sill is a notorious weak link that should be addressed. I'll try to include a picture of one I did this summer of water proofing under a exterior door.

I hope you could find something I've written that could help. If not I'm sorry I could not help more.

I see my post (editing) and I want to include that over the black roofing a 15 year walkable membrane was installed and counter flashed at the house.

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Permalink Reply by Donald Mitchell on November 22, 2009 at 4:47pm

Think like water is a good way to go at it, Paul. I worked last summer doing repair work on the siding around it and found rusted and completly deteriorated flashing. I repaired all this and stripped and painted the verticle siding and thought I was done.as you know we are slowly removing the vinyl siding and restoring the original wood work. So, some of this balcony still had the vinyl and I intended to check the flashing on all that when I got toit. That winter we had a dry blowing snowstorm and the snow stuck to the walls. later when it melted it found a way into the wall and possibly the door sill and wrecked a finished ceiling below. So after my time out in the corner I discovered a really bad job of flashing the balcony, I dont know how it stayed there that long. Very good info and I like the walkable membrane and am considering it on a side balcony that really doesn`t show from the street.

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Permalink Reply by Paul H. Bilodeau on November 22, 2009 at 7:03pm

Hey Donald, nice old house! It's easy to see that a lot of love was put into your home.

Sorry to hear the snowfall did you in as far as your ceiling goes. Chalk one up for mother nature, but it did alert you to a problem that might have gone overlooked. Just trying to be positive.

Your pictures made me think of how improtant it is to document your project with pictures. A digital camera should be part of anybodys budget for their home projects. I love seeing old pictures of work being done "back in the day". But it also validates ones upgrades when it comes time to sell. Or giving yourself a needed boost to see how far you've come by looking back in time. I sooo wish I had taken more pictures years ago if not only to remind my wife what I looked like when I had less grey hair.

Thanks for the pictures LeRoy and Donald.

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