How do I fix water damage to balcony underside?

[Carobee]

I bought this house 2 years ago and had a building inspection report done and the balcony underside came back as a minor defect but it said keep an eye on cracking. The top of the balcony is fine and solid and shows no signs of water damage but the underneath gets black and crumbly near the outer edges, I gave it a good karcher and got all the black of but it seems to be always a bit damp and obviously much worse with the winter rain Any ideas how I can stop this would be appreciated 

[Dave-1 · Accepted solution]

Evening @Carobee 

Ugh, an annoying pain but maybe an easyish fix is possible.

It looks like the black is a build up of dirt and moisture loving stuff along the edge of the balcony above. You could always instal something like a drip rail along the bottom edge so the water will drop from that and not run back under the concrete.

I am thinking of something as small as a right angled piece of aluminium running along the edge with the flat side outwards and glued to the concrete with liquid nails (dont really want to drill that close to the concretes edge) This is the aluminium edge I was thinking. with this one the wide part is what is glued to the underside edge of the balcony. You could drill through the 20mm but still its very close to the balcony edge. Metal Mate 20 x 12 x 1.4mm 3m Aluminium Unequal Angle - Silver  It comes in differant colours btw. Selleys 350g Liquid Nails Heavy Duty is what id use to attach it to the underside. Id make very sure the underside is dry when using it and would probarly do it in the morning to give it time to go off in case of moisture at night.

Davge

[Carobee]

Thanks so much Dave, I will definitely give that a go.

[JacobZ]

Hi @Carobee,

I'd just like to extend a warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and say how fantastic it is to have you join us.

It's brilliant to see @Dave-1, one of our wonderful members has already offered you some advice.

I'd agree completely that a drip edge is the solution to this issue and the solution he has provided would work well in this situation.

If you needed any further advice, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Jacob

[Carobee]

Hi Dave

Quick question wev'e had different opinions in my house how to interpret which way the aluminium edge goes on Can you please check out my pic as were laying bets on who is right lol. Thanks so much for your time its very appreciated 

[Dave-1]

hahahahahh Love it @Carobee 

Good evening you guys just made me laugh!

I would choose "C" When you glue it to the bottom that way the water will run off the patio, down the side and then continue down the strip and drip off, it cannot wick around and travel back under the pation. 

Now the biggest question in my mind.... Who won the guess!

Dave

[Carobee]

Yayyy thanks Dave it was me. I knew I should have put money on it hahahah

[Dave-1]

 @Carobee 

lol we have these debates at work ALL the time.... 

Dave