Ep 80. Word Of The Day - Efflorescence
Efflorescence is one of those issues most buyers walk straight past — a bit of white dust on tiles, a patch on a balcony, something that looks like it just needs a good scrub. In this episode, Michelle explains why it’s anything but minor, and why recognising it early can save you from buying into a building with serious (and expensive) structural problems.
Drawing on years of inspecting apartments across Sydney, Michelle breaks down what efflorescence actually is, why it appears, and how it often points to deeper waterproofing failures. She also explores why these issues are increasingly common in buildings constructed after 2000, and how the shift to private certification created a system where poor workmanship can slip through unnoticed.
This episode is all about helping you spot the warning signs before they become your problem — and giving you the confidence to assess a building’s true condition beyond the surface.
Here’s what you’ll learn in today’s episode:
What efflorescence looks like and why it shows up as a white, powdery residue on tiles, bricks and balconies
How it forms when salts and minerals rise to the surface through moisture
Why it’s a red flag for waterproofing issues, not a cosmetic problem
How untreated efflorescence can progress to concrete cancer, and what that means for structural integrity
Why buildings constructed after 2000 are more prone to these defects, and how private certification contributed to declining build quality
The real cost of remediation, including why balcony repairs can reach \$60,000–\$80,000 each
Where concrete cancer is most common, especially in coastal suburbs exposed to salt and wind
What buyers should look for during inspections to avoid being caught out by hidden defects
Why strata committees must investigate early, and how delays dramatically increase repair costs
If you’re considering an apartment or townhouse, this episode will help you understand what you’re really looking at — and give you the clarity to make smarter, safer decisions.
Upcoming Events & Programs
Michelle also shares details about her upcoming Three Day Clarity Challenge - a free three‑day series designed to help you understand your motivations, barriers and next steps in the buying journey taking place14–16 April.
This episode also leads into the launch of Better Home Buying™, Michelle’s step‑by‑step online program for first‑home buyers. With eight modules, downloadable tools, weekly live sessions and a supportive community, it’s designed to help you buy with structure, strategy and confidence. Join the waitlist today.
Speakers in today’s episode:
Michelle May - Michelle May Buyers Agents
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Please note that any views or opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent those of any business. These views and opinions are general in nature, and do not take account of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Please consider whether it applies in your circumstances and seek professional advice wherever appropriate.
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Michelle:
Hi and welcome to another episode of the Buy Your Side Podcast, the property podcast to help you make smarter property buying decisions. My name is Michelle May and I am the principal of Michelle May Buyers Agent here in Sydney. Now, if you're watching me on a video on YouTube or maybe social media, do you know what this is behind me? This is what they call efflorescence.
Efflorescence is the word of the day because I come across it so often and I realised that most buyers do not know what this is. So to describe the picture to you, if you can't see me, it is tiles with a white powdery substance that is coming out on top. It looks like you haven't been cleaning your grout very much, so you often see this on common areas where there's tiles or where there's bricks, but also very often on balconies. Now, the reason why I wanted to bring this to your attention, because it is a very costly thing to fix. So efflorescence in essence is when the crystals come into contact with water and then they rise to the surface and that's what creates this white powdery substance in layman terms. The reason why you need to keep looking out for this is because it actually means that there is typically a waterproofing issue, okay? And if left unchecked, it could actually cause things like concrete cancer, which obviously concrete cancer is a very scary thing.
For a building to have it left unchecked because it can actually disintegrate the whole structural integrity of a building and not only that it is extremely expensive to fix. The reason why I want to bring this to your attention also is because this is something that we see more and more often in newer buildings and when I say newer buildings I mean the ones that were constructed after the year 2000 in New South Wales. The reason for that, in my humble opinion, is because of privatization of certification. So, around the year 2000, councils in their great wisdom decided that instead of using in-house certifiers to sign off on buildings as the build progressed, they themselves would go, check and give them a sign off on whether things were finished and built correctly, in accordance with the Building Code of Australia. They decided that it would be in the best interest of everyone to hand that job of certification over to a private certifier because they thought that would speed up the whole building process. By doing so, they put the private certifier in the hands of the builder and developer because now the builder and developer has to pay a private company, a private person, to come and sign off on the job.
Now, I don't know if I need to spell this out to you, but of course this is a glaringly obvious conflict of interest because no private certifier is going to be in the job much longer if they keep, writing off these projects because things are not being done correctly or if nothing else it is a huge incentive to not look at things too closely right? I mean look I don’t think I'm sharing anything hugely controversial there because it's human nature so when you go and look at buildings or when I go and look at buildings post-2000 you can definitely tell the difference in the build quality in many, many cases and I'm not just talking about small little developments. I am talking about some of these national builders that really should be ashamed of themselves by the way they are constructing things nowadays and one of the most obvious ways, a telltale sign, is efflorescence.
To understand where they are in the process of fixing this because just to give you a ballpark idea I've seen quotes of around sixty to eighty thousand dollars per balcony, to fix this because the longer you leave this the more damage it can cause to the structural integrity of the balcony.
If this is in a basement this can cause structural integrity to the basement and therefore the whole building on top. Now I think that in most cases, people will look at it and think, it just needs a good scrub, but it's far more sinister than that. Of course, concrete cancer exists in older buildings, efflorescence exists in all the buildings, in older buildings they didn't even have any waterproofing at all up to a certain period.
So of course, I'm not saying this is only in newer buildings, but it's something to look out for. Now concrete cancer is more prevalent in areas where there are harsher conditions. So when there's more salt in the air, so if you're thinking of the eastern beaches, for example, those buildings, even the 70s and 80s buildings will have battled with concrete cancer in quite a few cases because of that wind obviously bashing against these facades and again it's really up to the strata community to spend time and money investigating the severity of this and let me tell you the longer you leave it the more severe it's going to get it's not just going to go away so I just thought I'd bring this piece of information to you today. Efflorescence. Look it up, have a look at the pictures and next time you go and look at an inspection make sure that you check for efflorescence.
Now if you enjoyed this episode give me a like and follow, thank you so much but also I want to just let you know that I have a clarity challenge coming up. It's a free challenge for 10 minutes with me, three days in a row Tuesday to Thursday the 14th to 16th of April.
A clarity challenge is about helping you understand your whys and why nots of getting into the property market. It's about helping you get some tools around why you want to purchase. So three days of a clarity challenge, 14th to 16th of April. The link will be in the show notes if you want to join me or send me a message at hello@buyyourside.com.au.
Now this is all in preparation for the launch of my course Better Home Buying, which is an online first home buyer course where you will learn all about how to get into the property market confidently. Eight modules, with videos, downloadable resources and weekly live sessions with me as well and it's all about how to get ready for auction, what questions to ask a sales agent, how to get yourself the best pre-approval possible and any questions that you may have you can actually ask me live. There will also be a Facebook community group so you guys can chat amongst yourselves and really support each other and I will be there as well to answer all your questions If that sounds like that's something you'd like to do again. There's a waitlist link in the show notes but of course always reach out hello@buyerside.com.au and the website for the course is betterhomebuying.com.au . Thanks for listening and until next time.