Repair or resurface deck above living space
I have a deck above a living space that is leaking. I found the issue but have had conflicting advice on repair. The original deck appears to be a poured concrete surface on top of of thick rubber membrane. The rubber membrane was not properly attached to the brick siding. When it is raining and windy the water runs down the side of the brick and behind the membrane and into the area below. For some unknown reason the poured concrete doesn't seem to have much if any slope. This must have caused a drainage issue and to remedy this the previous owner built up a 1/4" to 1ft slope on the concrete with a sloped sand base with a ceramic tile surface on top. That layer covered the top of the rubber membrane so I didn't see the real issue until I took off the layer of sand and tile. Here are a couple of pictures that show the issue.
My question is how to fix this. I would like to pull the entire deck up down to the joists and resurface and re-slope the surface. I want a tile deck and have read it is recommended to put down a 1.25" mortar bed and membrane. I like the wedi board material to replace the mortar bed. I'm pretty sure this is OK. The big question is how to flash the deck to the walls. The contractors say it is standard building practice to flash to the brick siding. I would like to have it flashed to the building wrap under the brick but that is a pretty expensive step. The deck is 29' x 13' with two open sides and two sides connected to the house. What is the best way to fix this?
Thanks much in advance for the help.
Comments (11)
john_hyatt
14 years agodiyspa
13 years agoBig mess fixing the deck. It ended up being 11 inches of concrete, mortar and tile. We cut away the brick, flashed to the sheathing, rebuilt the brick, installed sloped joists, new subfloor and then wedi balco board on the subfloor.
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13 years ago
weedyacres
13 years agojohn_hyatt
13 years agodiyspa
13 years agoYes we did follow all directions. For this large of an area there is a lot of labor because you have to tape and caulk all seams and screws with the Wedi Sealant. Right after the last screw was down the first tile went down. Here is the picture of the completed Wedi surface.
You can see we are using the Schluter expansion joints on the edge and through the middle. Double careful not to have cracks.
The other thing we did was to pre-place the railing posts directly onto the plywood. I had the railing guy make a 4" plate with welded posts to it. We cut out the wedi board and placed it on the plywood and then wedi taped over the top of it. The plate and bolt heads are just at the level of the top of the 10mm wedi board. After the deck is tiled the railing guy comes over and levels the rail, cuts the post to the right length and welds the railing to the post. The previous rail was attached to the top of the tiles and of course cracked every single one.
john_hyatt
13 years agodiyspa
13 years agoI had a great travertine guy who did wedi board for my bathroom remodel last year. I used the same guy to lay down the wedi balco outside board. He uses it a lot and swears by it.
Before
After
diyspa
13 years agoThe deck is finished and looks great. Not a drop of water underneath so far. Initially I has quotes from 16K to $23K but that did not include removing the existing deck!? I have about $13K into it. About 50% labor and 50% materials. The Wedi Balco board and the Schluter edges and gutters are expensive but I think are worth the money.
We happen to be doing a spa at the same time. What a mess but almost over.
diyspaOriginal Author