Apartment and condo balcony reconstruction, ledger first.
Metro Detroit hung wood balconies, stairs, and walkways on a generation of multifamily buildings, and that wood is now fifty winters old. Detroit Deck Rebuild rebuilds it with engineering, permits, phasing that keeps buildings occupied, and published per-unit pricing.
The multifamily scope
Balcony reconstruction
Full rebuilds from the ledger out on 1960s to 1980s multifamily stock: engineered attachment, proper flashing, treated framing, and guards at current code height and spacing. $9,000 to $22,000 per balcony, with whole-building phases pricing lower per unit.
Exterior stair towers
Walkup stairs are the building’s circulation, so flagged towers jump the schedule. Stringers, treads, landings, and guards rebuilt with temporary access maintained, $8,000 to $18,000 per tower.
Walkways and landings
Second-floor walkways reframed to the joist sizing their span always needed, with the landing-to-wall connections that rot first opened, repaired, and re-flashed properly.
Ledger and rim repair
The connection between the structure and the building is where most failures start and hide. Rot in the rim gets cut out, framing sistered or replaced, and the new ledger flashed so water finally sheds instead of soaking.
Guard and rail corrections
Loose posts, grandfathered heights, and wide baluster spacing corrected to current code at $90 to $160 per linear foot. The cheapest major liability fix on any multifamily property.
Violation response
City rental inspections and insurance carrier flags handled end to end: scope the real repair behind the symptom, pull the permit, do the work, and hand back documentation that clears the file.
Why the ledger decides everything
A balcony’s boards and rails are what owners see, but the structure lives at the connection to the building. Fifty-year-old attachments were built with the fasteners and flashing of their era, and water has been working on them ever since. When deck structures fail, investigations point at that connection far more often than anything else, which matches what we open up every week in Southfield and Warren. It is also why a walkdown that only looks at surfaces is not an inspection.
Phasing is the difference between a program and a crisis
A building whose balconies all went up the same year will watch them age the same way. Owners who commission a condition assessment get a ranked list, worst stacks first, and a phasing plan that spreads cost across seasons while the highest-risk structures get done now. Owners who wait get the same work as an emergency, at emergency prices, with a city deadline attached. The property manager page covers how the program version runs.
Get a building walked down
Building age, unit count, and photos of the worst balcony to (313) 285-3323. Multifamily walkdowns are free; formal condition reports price on the cost guide.
Balcony questions, answered straight
How much does apartment balcony repair cost in Michigan?
Structural balcony reconstruction in metro Detroit runs $9,000 to $22,000 per balcony, driven by size, framing condition, and access, with per-unit pricing improving when a building or complex phases the work together. Smaller scopes price separately: guard replacement at $90 to $160 per linear foot, ledger repair zones at $2,500 to $8,000. The published cost guide carries every range.
How do I know if a balcony is structurally unsafe?
The serious signs live at the connections, not the surface: a balcony that has dropped or pulled away from the wall even slightly, soft decking near the door where water collects, rust streaks below the ledger, and guards that move under a firm shake. Any of those on a pre-1990 building deserves a professional look this season, not next.
Can balconies be rebuilt while tenants stay in the building?
Yes, that is standard multifamily practice: balconies rebuild in stacks with tenants noticed before their stack starts, unit access stays open throughout, and a typical stack is out of service for days rather than weeks. Buildings stay fully occupied while their exterior structure is replaced.
Why do balconies on 1960s and 70s buildings fail at the ledger?
Because the original attachment was nails or light lags into a rim board that has spent fifty years getting wet behind inadequate flashing. Deck safety research consistently traces structural collapses to the ledger connection rather than the visible boards, which is why our inspections start there and why rebuilt balconies get engineered attachment and real flashing.
Detroit Deck Rebuild covers the rest of the commercial deck world too: restaurant and rooftop decks, manager and board programs, and every number on the published cost guide. The whole operation starts at the homepage.