NEW VIEW BOX

30 years ago, the Master Suite balcony came to me having been covered with tar paper and then various coats of elastomeric. Who knows when that had been added to the original balcony finishing but it was cracked and in overall poor condition. We have redone it innumerable times in the ensuing years but never with the fervor of this hopefully final fix. We removed what turned out to be completely rotted wood and began with the exaggerated but needed prep work of treating every one of the new boards.

Joshua and Kirk scraped and prepped the raw balcony surface with more sealant and several coats of elastomeric yet again, and of course filling any breaches. Then down went the lower layer of boards, covered with a layer of mesh to assist in keeping leaves and other debris from getting trapped and clogging the runoff to the drain. We also took the opportunity to widen the corner drain opening and we ensured that the drainpipe was clear. We soon discovered that the most efficient staging process was to pass the cut boards up and over from the south garden fountain yard. Shimming and squinting were a requirement as we dealt with everything out of plumb and square to say nothing of NOT flat.

We decided to redesign and replace the threshold to improve shedding the water away from the balcony doors and we proceeded to screwing down the top layer.

While we need to give the balcony walls one more coat of sealer, one more board for the threshold and then a pretty major stabilizing/re-build of the French screen doors – we are taking credit for it being back in business as of today! And it is so strong!