Leaking balcony repair in Melbourne
We find where the balcony is actually leaking, repair the substrate underneath if it needs it, waterproof it properly and put the finish back.
A leaking balcony is a building problem, not a coating problem
Most balconies we are called to have already been sealed once. Someone rolled a membrane over the top without establishing where the water was getting in, and a season later the ceiling below is wet again.
We treat it as remediation. Find the entry point, open up only what has to be opened up, repair the substrate and the falls if they are the problem, waterproof to the standard, and reinstate the tiling or finish so the balcony is usable at the end of it.
See the difference
Drag the slider to compare before and after
How the work runs
Not every balcony needs every step. What it does need is established before you are asked to approve anything.
Find out where the water is going
Moisture mapping, thermal imaging and drainage checks. We establish the actual entry point before anyone quotes on fixing it, because the stain is rarely above the hole.
Lift the finish where it has to come up
Sometimes the tiles stay and we work over them. Where the bed is drummy, the falls are wrong or the membrane beneath has failed, they come up. We tell you which before we start.
Repair the substrate
Cracks, spalling concrete, exposed reinforcement and failed screeds made good, and falls corrected so water runs to the outlet instead of sitting on the membrane.
Detail the junctions
Wall junctions, door thresholds, balustrade posts and drainage outlets. This is where balconies actually leak, and it is the part a quick recoat skips.
Waterproof
Primer and membrane to the specified thickness, in the system the balcony calls for, complying with AS 4654.2:2012, AS 3740:2021 and the NCC.
Reinstate the finish
Re-tiled, or finished with a protective coating, depending on what you want and what the balcony suits. Either way it comes back looking like a balcony, not a repair.
Test and hand over
Flood-tested where practical, photographed, and handed over with the documentation and warranty.
What you get
The same six things on every balcony, whatever the repair turns out to be.
- Diagnosis first
- The cause is established on site before anything is quoted.
- Substrate repaired
- Where it needs it, rather than covered over and left.
- Built to standard
- AS 4654.2:2012, AS 3740:2021 and the NCC.
- Finish reinstated
- Tiling or a protective coating, put back afterwards.
- System warranty
- Manufacturer-backed, 7 to 20 years depending on the system.
- Staged around residents
- Access and sequence agreed before we start.
Related services: Caulking Solutions · Leak Detection & Reporting
Frequently asked questions
It depends on where the failure sits. The waterproofing membrane on a balcony is often common property, so many balcony leaks become an owners corporation cost rather than the lot owner's, but that has to be confirmed case by case against the plan of subdivision. Nobody can fairly decide who pays until the source of the leak has been identified, which is why the inspection comes before the argument.
Who pays for a leaking balcony in Victorian strataIt depends on the scope, which is set by where the water is getting in and how far the damage has spread. A balcony needing only membrane work costs a fraction of one where the substrate has to be repaired and the tiling reinstated. We inspect first and quote on what is actually there, and inspections across Melbourne are free.
What balcony waterproofing costs in MelbourneBecause the repair treated the symptom. Water entering a balcony at a cracked junction or a failed drain can travel under the tile bed and appear metres away, so re-sealing the visible crack does nothing to the actual entry point. A balcony that has been patched more than once almost always has a substrate or drainage problem underneath that has never been diagnosed.
Why leaks keep coming backNot always. Where the substrate and the falls underneath are sound, we can work over the existing finish. Where the bed has failed, the falls run the wrong way or the membrane below has broken down, the tiles have to come up - covering that over is what produces a balcony that leaks again in two years. We tell you which of the two you have before you are asked to approve anything.
A contained balcony rectification is usually a matter of days rather than weeks; a building-wide programme or one involving structural repair takes longer. After the on-site assessment you get a scope and a timeframe in writing, so the work can be staged around residents, access and building use. For occupied apartment buildings we plan the sequence with the manager before anything starts.
Yes. We work across apartment buildings, mixed-use developments, offices and commercial property, on balconies, terraces, podiums and roof decks. As a registered building practitioner we can carry out the associated concrete repair, tiling and making good as well, so a commercial client deals with one contractor rather than coordinating several trades around tenants.