Balconies
Balcony maintenance: what to check twice a year
5 min read
Short answer
Check the drain is clear, look for water ponding after rain, inspect the perimeter sealant and the door threshold, tap for loose or drummy tiles, and look at the ceiling below. In Perth the sensible times are autumn, before the winter rain, and spring, once it has passed.
Balconies fail slowly and then all at once. Most of what turns into an expensive repair started as something visible: a blocked drain, a puddle that never went away, a strip of perimeter sealant that had pulled away from the wall.
Twenty minutes twice a year catches most of it.
When to do it
Perth gets most of its rain in winter, so the useful times are autumn, before the wet weather arrives, and spring, once it has finished. The autumn check is the one that prevents damage; the spring check is the one that tells you whether the balcony coped.
The checks
- Clear the drain. Leaves, soil from planters and general grit block outlets, and a blocked outlet turns a balcony into a shallow pond. This is the single most valuable thing on the list.
- Look for ponding after rain. Water still sitting on the surface hours after it has stopped raining means the falls or the drainage are not doing their job, and standing water is what finds defects.
- Inspect the perimeter. Where the tiled surface meets the wall or the balustrade, the sealant should be intact, adhered on both edges and not split or lifting.
- Check the door threshold. This is where a balcony most often lets water into the building, and it is worth looking at closely: sealant condition, whether water can pool against it, and whether the level of the tiles has crept up over the years through a re-tile.
- Tap the tiles. A hollow or drummy sound over an area suggests the bed beneath has lost its bond, which lets water travel under the surface.
- Look for cracked or missing grout, particularly along the perimeter and around the drain.
- Check the ceiling and walls below, inside and out. Staining, bubbling paint or efflorescence there is the balcony telling you it is already leaking.
- Look at the underside of the slab and its edge if you can see them, for staining, rust marks or spalling concrete.
Things that quietly cause problems
- Planters sitting directly on the tiles. They trap moisture underneath, and soil washes into the drain.
- Pot saucers and mats left down permanently, for the same reason.
- High-pressure washing. It cleans well and it can also blast out grout and damage sealant, which is not a good trade.
- Heavy or aggressive chemical cleaning, which degrades the materials at the joints over time.
- Furniture with hard or damaged feet, which can chip tiles and open up a path for water.
What means get it looked at
Some findings are maintenance. Others are the balcony telling you something has already failed, and watching them for another season usually costs more than acting.
- Any staining, damp or bubbling paint on the ceiling below.
- Water that ponds and stays put after rain.
- A large area of tiles sounding hollow, or tiles that have lifted.
- Perimeter sealant that has come away along a whole run rather than in one spot.
- Efflorescence, the white chalky deposit, appearing at the tile edges or the slab edge.
For apartments
In a strata scheme, whether the balcony or the affected element is common property affects who arranges and pays for the work. That is a question for the strata manager or the owners corporation rather than for a tradesperson, and it is worth establishing before organising anything.
Reporting what you have found in writing, with photographs and dates, is useful either way.
In short
- A blocked drain is the cheapest problem to fix and the most expensive to ignore.
- Water still sitting on a balcony hours after rain is a falls or drainage problem.
- The door threshold is where balconies most often let water into the building.
- Staining on the ceiling below is not an early warning. It means it is already leaking.
Common questions
- How often should a tiled balcony be checked?
- Twice a year is a reasonable rhythm for most balconies, timed around the wet season. A balcony that is heavily exposed, has planters on it, or has leaked before is worth looking at more often.
- Can I pressure-wash my balcony?
- Gently, and away from the joints. High pressure directed at grout lines and perimeter sealant can erode them, which creates the entry point you were trying to keep clean. A soft brush and a mild cleaner is usually the better option on a tiled balcony.
- Is water pooling on a balcony always a problem?
- A shallow film immediately after heavy rain is not unusual. Water that is still sitting there hours later is, because it means the surface is not draining, and standing water is what finds a defect and gets through it.
Related service: Balcony Leak Repair