Balcony floor - does anyone have experience with plastic flooring?

[john68]

Hello! I have a balcony approximately 3.5 x 8 m that I finally plan to start using after 20 years, now that the chestnut tree that was overshadowing it is gone. There is no roof on the balcony (I might write in another thread and ask for suggestions on a possible solution for that).

The balcony floor is a roof over the laundry room and dining area. The surface is tar paper, which makes it both hot and unpleasant to walk on. Therefore, there has always been wooden decking on the tar paper, but it is both deteriorating and difficult to maintain if I need to lift it for things like debris filling the gaps or if I want to apply a new layer of “tar” or just inspect it. Thus, I've started considering if there are alternatives and have read a bit about Bergo and their products. Does anyone have experience with these? Durability? Lifespan? Easy to disassemble for inspection? Best brand at a reasonable price?

Or do you have other ideas? I considered metal flooring for a while, but maybe it would be prohibitively expensive for 28 sqm? And does it get hot too? Grateful for input!

 

[Grillen]

Sleek, also available in wood if you want to keep that feeling? However, you will get quite a bit of dirt between the tiles so you can't avoid that. And it’s also quite a bit of work to take apart if you're going to clean underneath, so it's not something you do too often anyway. But definitely easier to avoid screws if you need to remove it one/several times.

An alternative is to build your own larger pieces with, for example, deck boards. For example, 3.5x1m or 3.5x1.5m sections that you can have floating on the floor. Personally, I would probably choose that solution if I had to remove it a bit now and then. Because then you only need to move a few sections and can stack them while you clean/tar etc.

 

[etompau]

Have laid several floors with the Bergo tile. Totally OK flooring, easy to lay, has an underside with spacers that allow air to circulate. Choose either a solid tile or a tile with small holes. The tile with holes is good, for example, in a storage room. Dirt falls into the holes, making it easy to keep clean.

We laid a floor with solid tiles on a balcony that had an open wooden floor. Here we had to screw down the outer tiles as strong winds could lift some tiles.

 

[john68]

Smooth, they are also available in wood if you want to keep that feel? However, you will get quite a bit of dirt between the tiles, so you can't avoid that. And it is quite a bit of work to take them apart if you want to clean underneath, so it's not something you would do too often anyway. But definitely easier to avoid screws if you're going to remove them once or multiple times.

One alternative is to build your own larger pieces with, for example, decking. For example, 3.5x1m or 3.5x1.5m sections that you can have floating on the floor. Personally, I would have chosen that solution if I had to remove it from time to time. Because then you only need to move a few sections and can stack them on top of each other while you clean/tar etc.

Today it is divided into 4 pieces that are 3.5 x 2. But I think they are so darn heavy and awkward.

 

[john68]

Have installed several floors with the Bergo tiles. A perfectly fine floor, easy to lay, has a base with spacers that allow air to circulate. Choose either full coverage tiles or tiles with small holes. The tiles with holes are good for, e.g., a storage room. Dirt falls through the holes, making it easy to keep clean.

We laid a floor with full coverage tiles on a balcony that had an open wooden floor. Here we had to screw down the outer tiles as strong winds could lift some of the tiles.

Wondering a bit about water drainage. No risk of water standing under the tiles?

 

[Grillen]

Today, it is divided into 4 pieces that are 3.5 x 2. But I think they are so damn heavy and cumbersome.

Ok, yes you can choose to go with 3.5x1 meter to make them lighter. But otherwise, it's easy to assemble the plates as well. But as mentioned, there's quite a bit of work if you're going to separate them when cleaning, etc., as they fit together quite well.

 

[Grillen]

Thinking a bit about water drainage. No risk that it will stand under the tiles?

The tiles aren't completely flat at the bottom so it's not a concern.

 

[etompau]

Thinking a bit about water drainage. Any risk of it becoming stagnant under the tiles?

Don't see it as a problem, as mentioned, the underside consists of elevations that lift the tile from the substrate.

 

[CISCO 74]

I had wooden tiles previously on the balcony but switched to plastic tiles last year. Bought Jula's version and it has worked great. No maintenance and I find it easy to lift and vacuum underneath, and you can easily mop off pollen with the mop.

 

[john68]

Thanks for the quick response! Spontaneously feels like a good idea with Bergo and now that I've looked at some example images, I'm drawn to the fact that you can mix colors. I really like color and patterns.

 

[john68]

Hello again! I've now removed the old decking and exposed the tar paper. I'm going to prime it and then apply 2 layers of new surface coating.

Now, another question has come up regarding the tiles. I can see there are some depressions in the roofing felt where debris got in between the decking and the paper. You can also see impressions from the boards the decking was on.

It's not like there's a hole or anything, but I wonder about the Bergoplattorna that have elevations/spacers underneath - will they also dig into the substrate when it's hot and you walk on it? Or do they distribute the pressure better?

I've written to Bergo to ask, but I thought someone here might have tried.

IF there's a risk - what do you do then? Lay sheets underneath for support?

Any other suggestions? As mentioned, it's about 3 x 8 meters.

Grateful for input.

 

[etompau]

That the tiles press against the surface is inevitable. The surface must withstand this otherwise there is something wrong. The Bergoplattan distributes the pressure with elevated spacers. It is hard to believe that a properly executed surface on a balcony would be damaged by this.

 

[john68]

That the tiles press against the surface is inevitable. The surface must withstand this; otherwise, there is something wrong. The Bergoplate distributes pressure with elevated spacers. It's hard to believe that a correctly constructed surface on a balcony would be damaged by this.

The problem is that it gets extremely hot, and then the surface becomes soft. We see the same phenomenon when we walk barefoot horses on hot asphalt (even if it's old) that it leaves marks. Even from the foal, which doesn't weigh much. Maybe I'll buy a package to start with and test.

 

[etompau]

The problem is that it gets extremely hot and the surface becomes soft. I see the same phenomenon when we go with unshod horses on warm asphalt (which is still old) that it leaves marks. Even from the foal which doesn't weigh that much. Maybe I'll buy another pack to start with and test.

If the surface is stable, it's probably not a big deal if the slabs leave marks.