Inside an Officer balcony investigation
How a failed membrane led to damaged joists, mouldy flooring and cracked limestone.
In short: A defect investigation looks for the cause. At one Officer home, the cause was a balcony membrane that had stopped working.
The complaint
Tiles lifting, staining below and balustrades that no longer felt solid on three balconies.
What we found
The waterproofing had effectively failed. Water had passed into the structure, damaging joists and leaving mould on the underside of the structural flooring.
The masonry
The balustrades were fixed into limestone masonry that had cracked and shifted, reducing their capacity to hold.
Temporary support
A steel lintel had been added to prop the structure. That is a stopgap, not a repair.
The scope
The report set out what had to come out, including sound adjoining parts, so the rebuild could be done properly.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Officer. Licensed building practitioners, Building & Plumbing Commission registration CDB-U 53425.
