Standing water on balcony

Hi guys,

I'm moving into a new apartment and have noticed a problem with standing water on the balcony. A picture is probably the easiest way to describe the effect:



It's an interesting situation because the balconies pictures aren't mine, they're the balconies of unfinished adjoining apartments — hence no decking. I've removed the divider that obscures them. My balcony does have wooden decking, but from what I can see the effect beneath is similar: standing water which is encouraging what I assume is moss growth. I don't think it's as bad as pictures, but some is still not draining away.

The water unsurprisingly comes from rain and snow, so I assume during hotter times this won't be happening. But it's nonetheless a concern, and one that might lead to mosquitoes I think? Not sure what I can do about it though. It does look like drains were implemented specifically to stop this, but clearly they're not doing a great deal.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Sounds like you're renting - if so, bring this up to management. Likely they won't do anything but it doesn't hurt to ask.

That said, if the decking you mentioned that we cannot see does not allow water through and is sloped away from the building, you would be fine (I know, not very likely...).

 

Get a floor squeegee and use it to clear the standing water.

 

I'll get a squeegee to sort out the neighbouring balcony's water, but it's not going to be much use for mine as all the decking is covering it and removing said decking looks like a considerably less than trivial job.

Unfortunately the decking does have gaps, so while it's hard to see I think it's very likely the water is standing in the same fashion below my decking along with associated moss growth. Is this actually a problem, is it likely to smell in summer or attract mosquitos? It's not very deep and would probably dry up quickly but I've been told many times that any standing water is a bad thing.

I will get in touch with building management about it, just curious about how big a deal this actually is as I've never had a balcony (or any outdoor property for that matter).

Thanks BTW.

 

Hopefully they'll take care of it for you but I think I'd want to keep bug repellant on hand just in case the moisture attracts bugs.

I wonder why the wood was installed in the first place. Was someone trying to beautify the balcony or trying to hide something?

 

Thanks guys. Having examined my own balcony further it looks like the problem isn't affecting mine, so I guess the water was set up to drain properly beneath my decking. So that's somewhat a relief, as if they can sort out the level of the area photographed it should drain properly and I can enjoy less mosquitoes in summer.

 

I would say if you are renting, and therefore a real fix is not available, you can try taking a small funnel or pouring apparatus and adding some bleach to the standing water. That should kill/deter any insect and moss/mold growth. You may have to add it every once in awhile, but if it might be your only solution. If bleach is too smelly, try a decent amount of lemon juice.

It will take care of insects/mold etc, but it will not take care of wood rot of the deck above, so hopefully rain water does not keep collecting there.