Balcony View

Many wood-framed buildings include exterior balconies in their designs. At these balconies, structural framing is often located in an interstitial space below the walking surface of the balcony, which typically places the wood framing in a poorly protected exterior portion of the building. This configuration requires that particular attention should be paid to the management of runoff from rain and incidental moisture at these structures. To be effective, the water resistive plane of the building envelope must be extended out to encompass this interstitial space and must be continuous around all elements that require protection. This paper will review case studies of buildings that have experienced water intrusion at these interstitial spaces and water intrusion’s impact on the wood structure that supports the balcony. It will also discuss the composition of the balcony assembly and the path water can take to cause damage to the structure below. The case studies will illustrate the hazards of improper design and installation of the building envelope, highlight the importance of directing water toward the exterior of the building, and discuss proper structural member selection. Current design practices will be considered and attention will be drawn to the damaging effects of improper waterproofing design and poor structural member selection/detailing.