Category Archives: Balcony

Balcony Retiled-U15

Posted on

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.

Balcony Tiling

Posted on

What a pain. Several tiles on our balcony tented last week and we have managed to remove them without breaking any.

Other Units have had similar issues in the past, some a lot worse.

Here is the area shown with the tiles removed...

Analysis by Tiler

We had a tiler come look at the issue.

He can relay the tiles easily, but reports that there will be on-going issues with the rest of the balcony area.

The probable cause in his opinion is that the wrong adhesive was used beneath the tiles, the plastic spacers were left in each tile corner, and the grout was not a flexible grout that should have been used.

The tiler also checked the whole balcony area and states that about 50% of the tiles are "drummy" and could tent or break with expansion and contraction.

The tiles are an Owner responsibility so we are investigating replacing the entire balcony tiling.

About a year ago we had an extra expansion joint added in one area of the balcony. This was done to minimise the risk of tiles tenting.

One problem in doing that is that the air conditioner will need de-gassing, and be disconnected.

 

You too may be affected in the same way, as the initial construction was not done to Australian Standards.

Cyclone Alfred Thursday Update

Posted on

The Cyclone Threat Continues

We are still in the path of the Alfred Cyclone. The actual forecast path keeps changing, but currently it is at Deception Bay. Not good for Redcliffe as we will cop the strong winds on the south side of the eye.

 

Thursday Afternoon Track Forecast

Path forecast of 4/3/2025

Alfred Still Aims For Us

Posted on

Expected Path

 Tuesday Afternoon Update ... Now showed as aiming for deception Bay.

 

We remain in the expected path of the effects of Cyclone Alfred. Today's forecast shows it coming ashore at the north end of Bribie Island.

Being on the south side we expect some strong winds Thursday night/Friday morning.

As At Tues Afternoon

Path forecast of Tues Afternoon

Path forecast of 4/3/2025

Path forecast of 4/3/2025

Alfred Update Mon 3rd March

Posted on

Get Your Supplies Yesterday

 An update as at 2:00pm Monday 

The local Woolworths at Bluewater Square, and I suspect Margate, are completely OUT OF bottled water. And I suspect Toilet paper.

Also, the queues to check-out are Longgggg.

For water backup, we bought some new plastic buckets from "crap-tastic" just across the lobby from Woolworths.

 

Latest Track

Updated forecast tracking issued Monday 3rd March 2025...

Latest cyclone track shows the landfall is expected further north of us than shown yesterday. This does not help us much as the strongest winds will be south of the eye.

Landfall now shows as happening about 4:00am Friday. See the track shown below.

As we get further into the week we will monitor the changes and report back here.

See also the official details published by Bureau of Meteorology...

http://bom.gov.au/

and TV/Radio/phone alerts.

Latest Track

Cyclone Alfred Alert

Posted on

Prepare Balconies

There is a chance that the  Cyclone Alfred  will be a direct hit on  Redcliffe  around Thursday 6th March-Friday 7th March 2025.

Here are some path predictions as at Sunday 2nd March:-

The images show the forecast path.  The dashed line shows the closeup location where the cyclone is aiming at the Redcliffe Peninsular.

Be Prepared

A near miss with a cyclone (Oswald) happened on Australia Day weekend 2013. Winds were very strong at Waves and most items on balconies were blown away. This included chairs and tables.  a glass balcony panel was shattered.  All from remnants of a cyclone that went ashore north of Bribie Island.

This time we are in the firing line.

 Some Recommended Actions: 

Either bring all balcony furniture inside  or  Gather furniture items together and tie them to a balcony column with strong rope.

Remove any items hanging on balconies.

Plants should be brought inside, or taken to your parking bay

Ensure your sliding doors and windows are fully closed and latched. This is important as when fully closed, the doors and frames interlock for added strength. Do not leave doors open even a few millimetres. Our doors and windows are built with glass rated for strong winds.

 

 

Your Unit’s Tiles

Posted on

Tiles at Waves

The tiles inside your Unit and on your balcony are your responsibility and you should check them regularly and maintain them.

They will mostly look after themselves so it is not a big task.  Failure to maintain them can cause you significant expense.

Maintenance involves ensuring that pooled water is swept to the nearest floor drain. Any missing grout should be replaced as soon as possible.

In your shower areas, always make sure that all water drains away after use. This is important to minimise water seeping into the screed layer beneath the tiles.

If you see any yellowing or oozing near the silver strip at the bathroom doorway, you have a problem that will only worsen.

Here is a sample of the problem area:

 

Tile Edge Oozing

The primary objective should be to minimize water build up and pooling on the shower floor. This can be achieved by wiping up any residual water with an old towel after each use. If the shower floor drains as designed and all water drained away within say, 15 minutes, then towel drying the floor should not be needed and you are probably not seeing any of the tell tale signs described above.

Another suggested action is to have the tile grout lines in the shower stall treated with a quality sealant, thus minimising water penetration.

If your bathroom floors have degraded to the degree of the one shown above, then the only viable fix is a complete re-tile of the floor, which would entail new membrane applications, new screed and tiling. Several Units have already gone through this process and at the same time have fully modernised their bathrooms.

The money spent will always be recouped any time the unit might be sold.

Problem Area

Problem Detail

Birds

Posted on

Please do not feed the birds.  Yes, they are great to see and hear, but they should not be encouraged.

Doing so can attract them back to other residents balconies where they can leave a mess on the balcony rail or glass.

They can feed themselves in Nature.

 

Balcony Doors

Posted on

Your Balcony Doors

The doors to your balcony have an aluminium strengthener bar at the opposite end to the door handle.

This should not be used as a handle to slide the door, as I found out.  The beam is there to weatherproof and strengthen our doors in the case of a cyclone, or strong winds. It is only held in place at the top and bottom by two small stainless steel screws.

I used it once too often to slide the door open, and the lower screw came out of its anchor point.  Luckily I was able to re-attach the beam at the bottom by carefully locating the screw in its original anchor hole.

 

Alum. Brace Beam

The small stainless steel screw is at the bottom. Just under that is the hole for roller height adjustment.