Replies

1. 
   woodroe | Jun 13, 2004 06:06am | #1

   Is the tile adhered to the concrete? What makes it waterproof? Is there a rubber membrane somewhere in the mix?

   woody

1. 
   user-324758 | Jun 13, 2004 10:06pm | #4

   We scarified the concrete, then put on laticrete (what they put on the bottom of swimming pools), then set the tile.  The laticrete provides the membrane -- it looks like a black tar substance on which you place a mesh-like material.  Roughly reminds me of fiberglass.  The thing about laticrete, though, is it needs to be covered in a short period of time -- hence the tile.  The laticrete has worked superbly.  Pricey, though.

   For various reasons at the time (stairs, potential of putting posts next to walls to support railing, tile came with finished end pieces for border, etc), we did not do the drip strip.  So now, the water runs down the walls from the grout lines.  No regrets on the decision, just want to improve the runoff situation.

    

2. 
   SRToolguy | Jun 13, 2004 07:00am | #2

   There are a couple of things you can do.

   1. 1/4" in from the bottom of the rim joist, make a 1/4" deep cut with a circular saw the length of the rim joist. This will serve to break the hydro static envelope and cause the water to fall cleanly from the front of the joist rather than wrapping back and falling behind it.

   2. Purchase some inexpensive plastic rain gutter material and install it along the offending edge. Seal it with caulk and paint it to match the deck. Install a simple downspout to direct the water away from the living area. Don't forget to give the gutter a little fall in the direction of the downspout.

   Sincerely;

   The Tool Guy

3. 
   Dryrot | Jun 13, 2004 09:40am | #3

   I'm not sure ToolGuy and I are seeing the same mental picture of what you discribed. From what you say there is a concrete slab deck. If there is any overhang to speak of? He has the right idea... Create a drip strip just under the edge of the concrete slab overhang. You could screw/epoxy a small strip of 1/2in. aluminum angle there, for example and the water would drip off here before it reached the wall.

    If this isn't the answer... a picture would help us see what you have.

    --- BRICK

    

   "They say that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I like to color outside the lines...and then eat the crayons." ~ Me
1. 
   user-324758 | Jun 13, 2004 10:22pm | #5

   Don't have a digital camera, or would attach a photo.  But you're right, the tiled 'deck' is really a roof.  The edge of the tile has no overhang.  The edge of this tiled deck ends where the outside edge of the walls (poured concrete, reinforced two directions w/rebar) from the bottom of the first floor (the floor for which the deck is a roof) meet.  Just a right angle from the deck down the wall.

   Since there's no overhang, the water simply flows down from the grout lines straight down the wall.  If I could affix something on the wall right below the grout line, I'm thinking the water would fall a few inches away from the wall versus running straight down.  One, more expensive option would install lick'n'stick stone on the wall, and add a bluestone overhang from the surface of the deck extending beyond the link'n'stick stone.  More time and $ than I want to spend, though.

   Tool Guy's # 2 and your suggestion are similar options that could work.  Maybe create a dripstrip from copper or aluminum an affix with epoxy.  I guess I'd need to make the edge rough so the water won't wick back to the wall.  I thought if there was strips of concrete 'tile' out there, I could use mortar vs epoxy.

   Hope this clarifies.   Thanks for the suggestions

1. 
   VaTom | Jun 13, 2004 10:36pm | #6

   Since there's no overhang, the water simply flows down from the grout lines straight down the wall.  If I could affix something on the wall right below the grout line, I'm thinking the water would fall a few inches away from the wall versus running straight down.

   I had the problem here.  Our problem was it dripping on the window sills and waking us.  Pretty quiet in here otherwise.

   Solution was to place a copper strip on the wall above the window to send the drips out past the window sill.  Works great, no special edge required, just slope it down.  Copper was best in our case as we have copper siding.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!