Due to a large area of balcony tiles tenting a few weeks ago, and an inspection by a Tiler to assess the best option for repair, we opted to do a complete retile. Our unit is on the North of Waves and gets significant sun in the winter. Tiles expand more than the concrete slab beneath and they become un-stuck. The unit directly below us had the same issue a few years ago and had to do a complete retile of their balcony.
We found a nice grey replacement tile at Tile Merchants, in Virginia. Size is 450mm square. The colour is slightly darker than the original tiles, and very close to the shale-grey used around the Waves building.
Step one was to have the air conditioner disconnected and stored away from the balcony. This proved more costly than anticipated, but was necessary.
Then we had to clear the balcony of all our furniture and plants and storage boxes. Luckily we had room in our parking bay for some of this temporary relocation of “stuff”.
The start day arrived and we had a skip bin delivered to get rid of the old tiles and dust. This was an extra expense we were advised of as we had to organise the bin.
Having previously had bathroom renovations, we were mindful of protecting our flooring. We found a roll of temporary floor protection at Bunnings. We had a path from the lift to the balcony doors.
Jack hammering started about 8:00am on Monday. By about 11am all the tiles had been lifted. The crew left that afternoon and cleaned up the tiles the next morning and dumped them in the skip bin.
Next stage was to sweep the area ready for grinding. They only ground back to the glue/screed layers ready for levelling and application of waterproofing. Two applications of waterproofing were applied over two days using “Hydra Ban Slurry”.
The waterproofing was done with 2 coats of Hydra Ban Slurry. It looked very effective once it had soaked in and dried.
Here we show the waterproofed area during drying, ready for some levelling fill and then the new glue and tiles.
Three rows along the balcony edge are done on Day-4. Looking great.
A closer photo of a completed area, ready for grout on Day-5.
As I post this article we are at the end of Day-4. Tomorrow will be the grouting of the tiles, which should be done by lunchtime. Then on Day-6 they plan to return to finish off with some sealant around all the edges. All in all it took less time than expected and the workmanship is great.
Should you want a quote for your balcony then the contractor we used was “Starsh”, and his phone number is 0431 165 919. He was recommended to us by “Tile Merchants” where we bought our tiles.
