Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Problems with balcony drainage.

I have two balconies where the floors are sagging in the middle front, and considerable water pools there during rains. The scuppers at the corners cannot drain this water.

I have asked a number of contractors to cut a third scupper in the center of the balconies to improve the drainage, and most have refused. Is this because this is too small a job, or is it just too hard to do properly?

I am considering hiring an unlicensed worker (with the proper tools) to cut the holes and installing and sealing the scuppers myself. Is this wise, and where can I find resources on how to do it properly?

thanks, Mark

Your problems are much deeper than just adding a center scupper. You need to fix the sag in the center. I'm guessing that the contractors who have refused to add the scupper have told you the same thing, and they have looked at the balconies -- I haven't.

I just hope that if you choose to try the $100 fix of adding scuppers that nobody is on or around the balconies when they fall.

I am aware that the balcony floor should be higher in the center. However, ours were not built that way, and when we had one balcony floor replaced by a contractor he did not raise the center of the new floor - he cut a 3rd scupper in the center.

The other balconies still feel sound. If there are any problems hidden underneath, I'm sure cutting a new scupper should reveal them.

Also the contractors never look at the balconies. Over the phone they simply tell me they don't do that kind of work. I believe they feel, one way or the other its not worth their time.

darsunt,

A lot of contractors are walking away from deck/balcony repairs right now because they simply don't want the liability. There have been several cases in the past 3 or 4 years where decks/balconies have failed from a combination of poor construction, rot, and simply being overloaded. People have been killed or seriously injured when those failures have occured. It has prompted a change in the codes regarding how a deck/balcony is attached. Those changes will be going into place within the next 6 to 12 months.

As soon as you tell a contractor that the center of your balcony has sagged (or was built lower in the middle than at the edges), and a middle scupper is needed to correct the drainage, I'll guarantee you that the contractor is going to walk away from the job, sight unseen.

Are your balconies in danger of failing? I don't know -- I haven't actually looked at them. But when you say that they are sagging in the center, that raises about 2 dozen red flags for me, as a deck contractor. And when you, as the customer, say that the cure is to add a center scupper to correct the drainage problem, that raises more red flags.

If you are serious about getting the problem cured, simply tell the contractor WHAT the problem is and let the contractor tell YOU what's going to be involved to cure it.

As I said before, we recently rebuilt one of our balconies. I personally discovered the damage. I saw the contractor put in new wood, new floor, ect. They did not raise the center of the floor, and the middle of the new balcony is sunk about 1.5" and depends on a center scupper to drain.

My intended repairs would make the old balconies exactly the same as our "new" balcony in all respects.