Removing a Rotten Balcony: Demo Day, What We Found, and Next Steps

Deck plans done. Permit secured. Materials scheduled to arrive. Everything was set to move forward—except for one obstacle: an old, rotted balcony that needed to come down before construction could begin.

I began with a plan: lay out tools (crowbar, sledgehammer, power drill), place a ladder for access, queue up music, and have Sherry on standby to watch Clara and snap photos. I expected a careful, methodical removal—pry off boards, study how the previous structure was assembled, and learn from it for the new deck.

That plan lasted about two minutes. Methodical quickly gave way to brute force: I started pushing and pulling on the railing until the entire outer edge twisted away from the two ledger boards attached to each side of the house. Fortunately, the railing rubbed against those ledger boards rather than the house itself—boards that we were planning to remove anyway.

Within minutes the whole balcony flipped over and pulled away from the house. The image below shows the underside of the balcony floor; the top of the railing is now on the ground.

Removing the bulk of the structure took less than 15 minutes and required no special tools. After the balcony was out of the way, the remaining work focused on detaching the ledger boards and other fasteners that had held it to the house.

On one side, a ledger board was bolted into the brick. On the other, the ledger appeared to be nailed into the siding. From construction guidance I reviewed, you’re generally supposed to remove siding where the ledger attaches so you can secure the ledger directly to the home’s rim board rather than fastening through siding. That helps create a stronger, longer-lasting connection.

Another oversight on the previous build was the lack of metal flashing at the ledger. Without flashing to divert water, the ledger and the adjacent siding had rotted. After removing the damaged pieces, I exposed the house’s rim board, which will be the correct structural member to attach the new ledger to.

Fortunately, the new deck will sit below the lower strip of siding that is still in good condition. That siding will be removed for the new build anyway, so we can reuse the good boards to patch the smaller rotten section above. And this time we’ll install metal flashing to prevent future rot where the ledger meets the house.

Here’s a progress shot we shared earlier in the week showing the exposed area and demo progress.

I tapped the joist closest to the house loose with a rubber mallet; the other joist had come down with the railing. It was seated in a metal hanger, so a light nudge was all that was needed. No giant sledgehammer required for that piece.

To remove the bolted ledger, I used a wrench to loosen the hex nuts securing it to the brick. The absence of flashing was obvious, and the board showed clear signs of deterioration.

With the ledger removed, the anchor bolts remain set in the brick. I left them in place for now; once new materials arrive I’ll decide whether to reuse them or replace them with new, appropriately sized anchors.

At this point the old balcony was completely gone—now sitting in a trash pile behind the house. For now we’re focused on progress and on the “sliding door to nowhere” moment that comes with removing a porch like this.

Materials are due to arrive in the next few days, and my dad—who built the deck on the house I grew up in—will come help later in the week. We’ll tackle the new deck in stages over the coming weeks and will share photos and details along the way. If you’re planning your own deck project, look out for a few key takeaways here: secure the ledger to the rim board rather than through siding, always use metal flashing where the ledger meets the house, and inspect fasteners and framing for rot before building on top of them.

Have you demolished something recently or discovered an unexpected construction detail during a project? Share your demolition surprises and lessons learned—odd discoveries like a deck floor that lifts when you tug the railing or hidden rot from missing flashing are more common than you might think.