Roof CoatingsBased in Haslet, TX

The Difference

The details that decide how long it lasts.

The deciding question is moisture. A coating seals whatever is underneath it, so it has to go over dry insulation and a solid deck. Wet insulation under a coating stays wet, loses its value and rots the deck from the inside. Roofs that are good candidates are usually metal roofs with leaking fasteners and rust at the laps, and single-ply or modified roofs whose surface has aged while the layers beneath stayed dry.

On metal roofs, much of the work happens before the coating goes on. Loose and backed-out fasteners are tightened or replaced, rust is cleaned and primed, and seams and laps are reinforced with fabric and sealant where they move most. The coating then bridges the whole surface.

In North Texas the reflectivity is a real benefit on its own. A white or light-colored coating can bring a dark metal or membrane roof's surface temperature down sharply on a summer afternoon, and less heat through the roof means less work for the building's cooling. Some utilities and building codes treat reflective roofs favorably, which is worth checking for your building.

Coatings are not a fix for every commercial roof. A deck that has deteriorated, a membrane that is splitting across its field, or large areas of wet insulation mean replacement, and the commercial roofing page covers the systems that go on in that case.