Views of the ocean from a loft room were limited so plans were submitted to council for development approval of a tiled balcony that also covers a new garage.

A joint tradie and DIY effort minimised expenses. The first part of the project involved building a freestanding 6000 x 2800mm high rendered brick wall with engaged piers to support the balcony. Visit www.handyman.net.au for plans on how the wall was built.

THE CONSTRUCTION PLAN
1. Connect the house wall to the new support wall with a timber frame.

2. Lay a waterproof floor of compressed fibre cement (FC) sheets over the frame, securing to the joists.

3. Add a balustrade of posts and a handrail with stainless steel wire.

4. Complete the balcony with large ceramic tiles.

It took a carpenter and two DIY helpers a day to install the timber framework of leger, bearer, beams and joists between the house and the support wall.

LEDGER To support the joists a treated pine ledger was secured to the house with 100 x 12mm galvanised Ramset Dynabolts (www.itwproline.com.au).
BEARER A 90mm bearer was made by face gluing two lengths of 140 x 45mm treated pine then positioning it on the engaged piers of the wall, secured with galvanised strapping and clouts.
BEAMS Sturdy 240 x 63mm Hyjoist I beams have a wide surface for screws to secure the compressed sheets, and 18 of them were positioned at 400mm joist centres. JOISTS The floor joists spanning from ledger to bearer finished 50mm below the doorsill and ran with a crossfall of 45mm for drainage.