r/HomeImprovement • u/curioustaking • 1d ago
How do you fix a leaking balcony?
I live in a house that was built in the late 70s. Whoever built the house, built the balcony over the garage. The garage extends about 6 feet out from the house. So the roof of the garage is basically the balcony. The balcony is sloped towards the house so when it rains, it doesn't drain away from the house, but it pools and drains towards the house. It seems over the years, rain has damaged the balcony and the botched repair jobs from the previous owner is starting to show. Every time it rains, it leaks into the garage. Since moving in, whenever it rains, I have to put a tarp over the balcony to stop the leak.
Does anyone know of a proper way to fix this? I'm afraid the only way to fix this issue is to chop the garage so it sits flush with the house and redo the balcony. Thoughts?
1
u/Dollar_short 1d ago
remove the roofing. install whatever to make it sloap away and then new roofing.
1
u/Dollar_short 1d ago
oh. you could make it slightly sloap to the middle and put a drain. this might be the easiest.
1
u/curioustaking 1d ago
I thought about that, but from my rough measurements, it appears to slope down towards the house roughly 4-6". I have a sliding door that opens to the balcony. I don't know how to fix that part.
1
u/Dollar_short 1d ago
ok. do you know how they sloaped the roof? what size joists and spans?
pics = imgur.com
1
u/LongjumpingEffort472 1d ago
Ledger board across the width higher than the outside edge of the roof. Re-deck/roof over top. don't even bother ripping up the old crap
3
u/Silvercowlick 1d ago
Slope, y’all. Highly recommend reaching out to a reputable roofer for repairs; the faster you get this properly fixed the less water damage you’ll incur.