New Guide Identifies Best Practices for Wood Balcony and Deck Construction
Home Innovation Research Labs and the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory recently released a new guide to help identify design principles and construction practices to improve the moisture performance of wood-framed balconies and decks.
The Durable Solutions for Balconies and Decks illustrated guide covers all phases of the construction of wood-framed balconies and decks, including building code considerations, design, building material selection, and ongoing maintenance.
The guide focuses on cantilevered balcony designs, which have suffered catastrophic structural failures, such as the 2015 balcony collapse in Berkeley. The guide provides detailed illustrations of best practices and checklists for inspection and maintenance to ensure the safety of home owners and users of balconies and decks.
A critical area for any cantilevered balcony design is the interface between the cantilevered members and the exterior walls of the building. In addition to sloping of the walking surface and waterproofing membrane, flashing of the balcony and any doors providing access to and from the building must be carefully integrated with the water-resistive barrier on the exterior wall and the waterproofing membrane of the balcony to keep water out of the building envelope and promote drying of any components that get wet.
The guide includes best practices and construction details for this interface where low-height thresholds are required at balcony doors to meet Fair Housing Act accessibility or Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
A technical advisory group — which included practicing architects and engineers, wood industry representatives, and building science experts — provided input on the creation of the guide. In addition to funding from the Forest Products Laboratory, AGS Stainless, Inc. provided steel railing products for the mockups constructed at Home Innovation’s facilities.
Download the guide. For questions, contact Gary Ehrlich, who participated on the advisory group, at [email protected] or 800-368-5242 ext. 8545.
Latest from NAHBNow
Aug 29, 2025
NAHB's Monthly Update Features Canadian Lumber Duties Talking PointsThe update provides the latest messaging framework to help members articulate housing priorities and latest news related to the Canadian lumber imports and builder sentiment.
Aug 28, 2025
Podcast: Congressional Priorities and the Trump Economy Heading into FallOn the latest episode of NAHB podcast Housing Developments, NAHB CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez discuss how the rest of the year looks as Congress gets ready to return to Washington next week.
Latest Economic News
Aug 29, 2025
Multifamily Absorption Rises in the Second QuarterThe percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion rose in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA).
Aug 28, 2025
Mortgage Rates Move Lower, Hitting 10-Month LowAverage mortgage rates in August continued their steady decline and are now at their lowest rate since last November.
Aug 27, 2025
Wood-Framed Home Share Increased in 2024Wood framing continues to dominate the U.S. single-family home construction market, according to NAHB analysis of 2024 Census Bureau data.