PROBLEM A homeowner had an addition done to his home in late 2012 in an historic neighborhood in old Atlanta, GA. The addition featured a new family room with a walkable roof top deck for his young family to enjoy. They wanted the look and feel of a tile deck for the roof top. The addition was built with the roof top being constructed with a concrete slab for stability, and would be used for the substrate for the tile installation. They purchased porcelain tile and hired a contractor to do the installation. Unfortunately the contractor was unfamiliar with the proper way to keep the deck waterproof and installed the tile directly to the concrete slab with only thin set instead of a recommended assembly. It only took one cold winter to have the grout fail and water penetrated the concrete slab and leaked into the finished ceiling below. DURADEK SOLUTION The customer called Duradek of Georgia who quickly made a site visit and determined that indeed the concrete slab had been compromised and was leaking. In agreement with the homeowner, after a detailed conversation on how to fix the problem, a repair plan was set in place which included removing the existing railing. The tile would have to be removed and the surface would have to be sanded to get a smooth, dry surface for new glues, Tiledek PVC membrane and tile. The next hurdle was to reapply for the permits in the historic neighborhood which took 90 days. The approval finally came and the reconstruction began. After a step by step process, Duradek of Georgia completed the deck. The tile was installed and the railing replaced. As luck would have it, a huge rain storm came in and drenched the deck for over 24 hours. No Leaks – totally waterproof. JOB NOTES After the homeowner went through the expense of the roof top deck addition and the tile installation, needless to say, he was very disappointed to have the new deck fails so quickly. The homeowner then did his homework and found Duradek Ultra Tiledek as the product that should have been used in the first place. View or download the .pdf version of Case History #168 for the complete case history with installer details and before and after pictures.