Case Study · SB 721 · CSLB #1060736
Elevated Walkway & Balcony Waterproofing — 40-Unit Apartment Community, Rio Linda
Dry rot had opened holes straight through the walkway decks. We shored the spans, rebuilt the framing underneath, and finished every elevated surface with a new waterproof deck system.
WaterproofingProject facts
- Location
- Rio Linda, CA
- Service
- Balcony Waterproofing
- Property
- 1970s two-story garden apartment community
- Units
- 40
- Elevated elements
- 1,900 sq ft of elevated walkway plus ground-floor decks and patios
- Client
- Owner / property management company
- Scope
- Emergency shoring, structural framing repairs, deck rebuild, waterproof coating, guardrail reset, repaint
- Timeline
- 11 weeks
- Completed
- Q1 2026
- Budget range
- $220k–$260k
01 The situation
The challenge
The concrete-look topping is what hid the problem. It is only a thin layer over plywood and wood joists, and water had been working through the cracks in it for years. By the time we were called, the deck had broken open in two places — you could look through the holes and see rotted framing — and both sections were taped off while residents walked around them. The lower decks had a different version of the same failure: rot had traveled into the rim joist and the post-to-beam connections, which is a load-path problem, not a coating problem. Nothing could be re-coated until the framing under it was sound.
02 Execution
What we did
We worked from the framing out, one span at a time:
Shored the affected spans and removed the failed topping, sheathing and taped-off sections down to bare framing
Replaced rot-damaged joists, rim boards and post-to-beam connections, and re-set the posts on their piers with proper standoff hardware
Rebuilt the deck surfaces — new sheathing and topping on the walkways, new decking on the ground-floor decks
Applied a reinforced waterproof deck system with a textured non-slip finish, then re-set the guardrails and repainted the exposed structure
03 Outcome
The result
Every elevated surface on the property now sheds water instead of holding it against plywood. The taped-off sections are open again, the framing that had been carrying load through rotted wood is gone, and the owner has a coating that can be renewed on a schedule instead of a deck that has to be torn out a second time. The SB 721 items were closed on re-inspection.
Results at a glance
- Structural dry rot removed from joists, rim boards and post connections
- 1,900 sq ft of elevated walkway rebuilt and waterproofed
- Ground-floor decks rebuilt with new decking and guardrails reset
- Caution-taped sections reopened without taking a single unit out of service
What the client received
- SB 721 findings closure and re-inspection sign-off
- Manufacturer warranty on the deck coating plus our workmanship warranty
- Photo record of every framing repair before it was closed up
- Repair details for the post-to-beam connections documented for the file
- Re-coat and maintenance schedule for the next inspection cycle
Transformation
Before & After
The second-floor walkway
The ground-floor deck
On site
Project Photos
“Two sections of walkway were taped off and I was fielding calls about it every week. They shored it, showed me exactly what was under the concrete, and handed back a surface I can actually maintain.”
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