WHY YOUR BALCONY NEEDS GROUT AND SEALER MAINTENANCE TO STOP YOUR WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE FAILING?

Balcony leaks are most often caused by failing waterproofing membranes. The most common cause is lack of proper and regular grout and sealer maintenance. Membranes create a barrier against water, and there are many areas where they can fail, including wall upturns, balustrades, drains, and anywhere water can enter. Any leaks, if left undetected or unfixed, can cause bigger leaks, result in significant damage and costly repairs. 

Waterproofing accounts for a tiny percentage of building costs, but balconies are the biggest cause of waterproofing failures. You should therefore ensure periodic and even proactive grout and sealer maintenance, no matter how your balconies were constructed from the preparation stage.

Causes of Balcony Leaks

Unlike most other structures in your home, your balcony is exposed to the elements and different types of weather. This means that its integrity is always at risk. As a result, regular maintenance and inspection are even more critical. Leaks are caused by a variety of factors.

• Tile movement and breakage
• Hollow sounding tiles
• Porous grout or deteriorated grout
• Waterproof membrane failure, due to the use of inferior products or over time
• Poor drainage or lack of drainage
• Lack of perimeter seals or deterioration
• Pooling due to rainwater and breakdown of membranes

What to Do If Your Balcony Is Leaking?

Identifying leaks early and resolving them at the onset is the best course of action. It can prevent expensive repairs in the future. Maintaining your balcony regularly is a must. The following are some signs that you have a leak in your balcony:

• Grout shows signs of cracks or is missing
• Tiles have cracks or are loose
• Water stains are present on the interior or exterior finishes of the balcony
• Split or peeling paint on the balcony can be a sign of damage caused by a leak
• Efflorescence salt on the grout lines
• Difficulty in opening or closing doors and windows

Missing grout or cracks in the grout can allow water to penetrate under the tiles and possibly damage the waterproofing membrane. You can almost always tell if your balcony has a leak by loose tiles or cracked tiles. When you step on these tiles, you may hear a hollow sound. Water can penetrate the cracks and accumulate under the tiles, causing gradual damage to the waterproof membrane. 

Water pooling under tiled areas is indicated by the presence of white crusting on grout lines. 

Professional grout and sealer maintenance

We recommend that you contact us, the experts, for regular checks and repairs to the grout and sealer in your balcony to prevent the waterproof membrane from failing. In order to identify the problems and fix the underlying causes, we will inspect the balcony. In order to fix your leaking balcony, we offer a comprehensive repair and epoxy re-grouting service. If you don’t want to remove tiles, we offer a makeover service for your balcony.