What to do about an old, leaking back (steel and concrete) deck?

Hello and thank you in advance for your help! I’m hoping someone out there in brownstone-land has dealt with the issue of an old, poorly-maintained back deck (steel and concrete construction) and can help me out.

My brownstone co op has, as you may have guessed, an old, poorly maintained steel and concrete back deck. I do not know exactly how old it is, but it was mentioned in the co op offering plans from the 80s so at least that old. I do not think it was permitted but I think it was built before permitting was required (so it’s “legal” as far as I understand it).

The most immediate problem is that the concrete is cracked in multiple places and the attachment to the building is not sealed well, so when it rains water drips down onto the patio below through the cracks in the deck itself as well as in the places where the deck attaches to the building. There is also a substantial amount of rust.

I’ve had various contractors, architects and engineers look at it in person or in photos and I’ve heard everything from “it’s fine, you just need to reseal the concrete and re place the railing” to “this is past the point of economical repair, you need to tear it down and build a new deck”. Before doing anything I think I need a real assessment of what’s wrong and what my various options are.

I did of course search “decks” in the forum and collected a couple of recommendations (though most were from people recommending themselves). Before I contact more people: does this situation sound familiar to you? What did you do? Whom did you hire (specific names would be great if you can recommend anyone)? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

StoopLady

in General Discussion 2 years and 11 months ago

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irfan | 2 years and 11 months ago

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If this were my house, I would probably just have it repaired and call it a day, unless it felt unstable.

But since it’s a coop, I would have an engineer or two look at it and do what they suggest. I would do everything I could to limit to repair and not replacement to avoid the permit process. If it’s surface level rust and a bit of concrete replacement/waterproofing, that might not be too bad.

Try Old Structures Engineering if you need someone. I’ve used them and they’re fairly priced and pretty responsive.

irfan | 2 years and 11 months ago

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If this were my house, I would probably just have it repaired and call it a day, unless it felt unstable.

But since it’s a coop, I would have an engineer or two look at it and do what they suggest. I would do everything I could to limit to repair and not replacement to avoid the permit process. If it’s surface level rust and a bit of concrete replacement/waterproofing, that might not be too bad.

Try Old Structures Engineering if you need someone. I’ve used them and they’re fairly priced and pretty responsive.