Household Leaks: How Clear Waterproofing Membrane Helps Repair Leaky Balcony

Water leaks are dangerous to our homes, especially when existing wet areas are the cause of the damage. Decks and balconies are some common areas of a home that leak. From structural movement to poor waterproofing and exposure to outside elements, there could be multiple reasons behind a leaky balcony. 

When it comes to repairing these areas, a home-owner has two options: 

1) Rip off the affected area and replace it.

2) Repair the leaky balcony with an over tile Clear Waterproofing Membrane.

Replacing the affected portion is a costly and time-consuming process. In addition, there are bleak chances that new tiles will match the existing ones. Due to the way water travels and with the membrane being under the substraight, you are not able to simply patch repair a balcony. The whole surface must be treated so that means either ripping up all the tiles or apply the Clear Waterproofing Membrane over the entire surface. Clear Waterproofing Membrane is the only remedial repair option that includes movement in its warranty, and with movement being the standout cause of leaks ensuring your option includes future movement is necessity. 

What is a Clear Waterproofing Membrane?

An affordable and effective leakage repair solution, it's an over tile application that stops water from penetrating a surface. Called Clear Waterproofing Membrane, it is a flexible waterproofing membrane that is applied on the top of a surface and doesn't require a home-owner to remove the entire affected area to get access to the failed membrane below. For example- If you have a leaky balcony, then you can repair the leak without removing the tiles. As it's a flexible membrane, movement on the surface doesn't affect its effectiveness.

Remedial Membranes' Clear Waterproofing Membrane is an internal and external Clear Waterproofing Membrane that provides your leaky surface with a flexible solution. It ensures that you get a long-term solution to your household leakage issue associated with your balcony. As a topical membrane, any issues in the future can simply be patch repaired without removing tiles again.

DIY Leaky Balcony Repair

Ripping out and replacing a leaking balcony can cost you well over $10,000. If you do not want to spend your hard earned money on replacing your balcony, then use inexpensive and efficient Clear Waterproofing Membrane solution by Remedial Membranes. Designed by experts, these DIY solutions can protect your balcony for many years, and you don't need to remove your balcony's tiles. 

• Get Clear Waterproofing Kit

Usually, decks and balconies leak due to movement. In order to eliminate the issue, you require a  flexible waterproofing membrane as a long-term solution. Epoxy grout or sealant is not a wise option to choose as they don't allow movement. Remedial Membranes' Clear Waterproofing Membrane provides your surface with a flexible membrane, which means your balcony is not going to leak again due to movement. You can easily get your Clear Waterproofing Membrane kit from Remedial Membranes online store.

• Clean Your Balcony

It is essential to properly clean the balcony before the membrane goes on the top. The membrane is a permanent solution and being clear whatever your balcony look like before its installed will look like after. To clean the balcony, we recommend the use of either diluter chlorine or hydrochloric acid with water and a high-pressure water cleaner.

• Replace Loose Grout Or Cracked Tiles

During the cleaning process, inspect the balcony for loose grouts and damaged tiles. If you find areas of missing grout, then replace it with a matching colour in order to make sure that your balcony doesn't appear patchy. Crack tiles look less obvious then tiles that don’t match so using the Joint Adhesive seal over the crack scraping the profile flat so that the seal is not obvious after the membrane has been installed. Apart from that, ensure that your balcony's expansion or control joints are installed to help with the contraction and expansion of tiles exposed to the weather.

• Use Joint Adhesive On Expansion Joints

Before using the flexible Clear Waterproofing Membrane on the surface, apply joint adhesive on all the expansion joints and junctions where the floor meets the wall and on top of skirting. If you have a timber framed balcony, you will take the time to install the Joint Adhesive over all the grout joints.

• Prepare A Mix Of Clear Waterproofing Membrane Part 1 & Part 2

Before moving to this step, make sure that your balcony is clean and dry. Now, it is time to prepare a mix of Remedial Membranes Clear Waterproofing Membrane Part 1 and Clear Waterproofing Membrane Part 2. We recommend mechanically mixing with a paint paddle to ensure you get a good blend of part 1 and 2 resulting in a thickened consistency. 

• Apply CWM Mix On The Surface

Get a paint brush and start applying the Clear Waterproofing Membrane, apply the two perimeter coats allowing each coat to dry and go clear before applying the second coat the apply your infill coats using a roller. The membrane will go on milky and dry clear. Once the first infill coat is dry and clear, you need to apply another coat of the Clear Waterproofing Membrane only 2 coats are required but make sure that the second coat has the anti-slip additive mix in. 

Your leaky balcony will be fully cured in 7 days but is trafficable after 24 hours. 

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Terracotta Balcony Before and After:

When your balcony is leaking your options are to either rip out and replace your leaky balcony or repair it with the Clear Waterproofing Membrane. Most balconies leak due to movement from the sub straight, reinstalling a membrane under tiles guarantees that your membrane will fail again in the future and you will be back at square one. Clear Waterproofing Membrane is applied on top of the tiles and can easily be repaired in the event of any issues. Waterproofing kits are available in different sizes and we offer full DIY support and also have a list of Accredited Installers available if you choose to get someone to install the membrane for you and their installation comes with the longest warranty in the industry that includes movement. Contact us today 1300 0 Clear 1300 025 327 or on info@remedialmembranes.com.au 001161405930059 for our international customers .

Most Effective And Inexpensive Method For Leaking Balcony/Shower Repair

Everything you do or don’t do will always cost you when it comes to your home and (although not particularly sexy) preventative maintenance always delivers cost savings. Sure, there’s the upfront money you have to put down but a rule of thumb goes that for every $1 you spend on maintenance, you save up to $100 on future repairs. Making preventative maintenance 100 times cheaper!

Take a faulty tap washer for example. It will probably cost less than $5 to replace, an outlay that is significantly cheaper than the $200 you could end up paying over a year for the water lost from a quick drip tap.

Replacing a cracked external light fitting could cost up to $100, but compared to the cost of an electrical short and/or fire due to water getting in, -- resulting in thousands of dollars in damage, or potentially the whole house needing to be rewired – it’s minimal. Such a the event could even lead to electrocution and risk of death.

That’s the thing with water; it is always seeking to find a way in. The vast majority of expensive outlays can usually be put down to wanting to prevent water from finding a way into our homes and causing damage. But what do you do when an installed waterproofing membrane fails? It’s a massive problem, but don’t worry, help is at hand. Read on to understand how truly expensive this sleeping giant can be as we show you how to handle it with complete waterproofing solutions.

Failures in waterproofing membranes- in showers and balconies- achieve a top 10 listing in Home Warranty Defects each and every year. It is common to notice people looking for leaking shower repair and leaking balcony repair solution. Waterproofing failures are so routine and expected that they should be added to our preventative maintenance checklist. We get to the bottom of why it happens and when it happens to you and what you need to do.

Why is water so tough on our homes and so hard to keep out?

Water is a polar molecule. It has a positive and a negative charge, similar to a magnet, meaning it has the ability to travel uphill against gravity to damage your home. It’s kind of like an intruder, who is literally trying to break into your home 24 hours a day. Evaporation, capillary action, syphon are all terms that refer to water’s movement against gravity.

Consider a tree, water will evaporate out of the leaves drawing the moisture from the ground upwards. Water acts in a similar same way on a leaky balcony, gaining access through porous grout, cracks, etc. It will collect and sit on top of your waterproof membrane until it finds a rip, tear or failure, after which the water is absorbed through porous materials below your home’s membrane. This creates water flow, with each molecule pulling on the other. The damage to your home has begun. From mold to rot to electrical shorts and worse, water, once inside, has free reign to cause havoc and the longer it sits on your building materials and structure the higher the expense to you.

Why are leaks in wet areas so prevalent? In short, movement! Homes are built to move without being damaged. In this way, the expansion or contraction of materials through the seasons means we do not have to be constantly repairing cracks, but wet areas like shower recesses and balconies are rigid platforms sitting on top of flexible materials. Thus, over time, cracks appear giving water a chance to invade and cause damage. This, as a result, forces to look for flexible membrane waterproofing system. Let's take a closer look at the areas prone to letting water in and see if there is any other cause or preventative measure we can take.

Shower

Do you have a leaking shower? Are neighboring walls wet or moldy? Is the floor covering wet? Does water come from underneath the shower screen or around the glass?

If water is exiting from under the screen and/or glass, then a simple a bead of silicone can fix it. You can also arrange for a plumber to check your home’s pipe pressure to see if the leak is coming from the plumbing or for anything else where your membrane could be damaged and in need of leaky shower repair services.

Balcony

Do you have a leaky balcony? Do you have wet or mold covered plasterboard or paint? Is water dripping from light fittings? Wet flooring?

First of all, check to see if your sliding door tracks need to be cleaned out. If water can’t run off and away it will migrate into the home, pool and start causing problems.

Second, check to see if the seal around the glass is continuous. Over time, the seal can shrink and leave a gap for water to get in. If you do find a gap, then simply apply some silicone to prevent water from gaining access. You can also call a plumber to check any pipes that could be running through the balcony to make sure they are not damaged, but most of the time your balcony is leaky because the movement has caused the membrane to fail.

As we now know that cracks and leaks are likely to occur in our wet areas, how quickly should we react to them?

Once you have identified that any leak or damp is due to a failed membrane, DO NOT DELAY in getting it repaired. Consider this case study provided by HIA Insurance posted below.

Case Study:  A recent example involved a shower base waterproofing failure in a home built over 5 years prior. The eventual cost to repair the damage was more than $240,000 --almost the original build cost! -- (1)

With movement being the main reason for the failure of membranes in leaky wet areas you only really have two options:

• Clear Over Tile Waterproofing Membrane or balcony waterproofing without removing tiles

• Rip up and redo the area.

Clear Waterproofing Membrane installed over tiles

Clear Over Tile Waterproofing Membrane

In most instances, the tiles in your shower or balcony are in good the condition, so why rip up good tiles to get to a failed membrane? Movement of the structure will continue to increase as the home ages so why rip up an existing tile to simply put down a membrane that will require the same expensive approach once it fails again? Here, you only require a clear waterproofing membrane as a solution.

REMEDIAL MEMBRANES Clear Waterproofing is a 2 part aliphatic polyurethane-waterproofing membrane, meaning it expresses a perfect combination of flexible, tough and trafficable qualities. It’s clear so the look of the existing surface will remain unchanged, and the whole process can be done inside a week. Also, being on top of the surface all future issues can be easily addressed with a simple patch repair and it’s between 10-30% of the cost of a rip out and replaces/repair of your shower and/or balcony.


Clear Waterproofing Membrane is always going to be the way to go because of an under-membrane only has a limited life span that once it fails is both difficult and expensive to access.