Roof Coatings and Roof Painting

When a Coating Makes Sense

Coatings work best on flat and low slope roofs, metal roofs and older built up roofs that are still dry inside. The coating seals small cracks and seams and adds a new surface that takes the sun instead of the roof.

Around Ontario that sun is the main enemy. A normal year brings about 93 days at 90 degrees or hotter. A white coating reflects most of that heat, so the roof surface runs much cooler and the rooms under it do too.

When It Does Not

If water has soaked the insulation or the deck under a flat roof, a coating seals that water in. The roof keeps rotting under a fresh white skin. We check for soft and wet spots first, and if we find a lot of them, we say so and price a repair or a new roof instead.

We do not coat asphalt shingle roofs. Shingles need to breathe and shed water at every overlap, and a paint film can trap moisture and shorten their life. If a shingle roof looks tired, it usually needs repair or replacement.

Painting a Tile Roof

Concrete tile can be cleaned and coated to bring back faded color. That is a cosmetic job. Paint on the tile does nothing for the paper under it, which is what keeps a tile roof dry. If the tile roof is 25 years or older, we check the paper first, because a lift and relay may be the job that matters.

How We Coat a Roof

First we power wash the surface and let it dry. Then we repair the parts a coating cannot fix, like open seams, loose flashing, split pipe boots and clogged drains. Primer goes on where the coating maker calls for it, and seams and penetrations get a reinforced base coat.

Then the field coats go on to the thickness the product needs. Silicone holds up well where water ponds. Acrylic elastomeric costs less and works on roofs that drain well. We tell you which one fits your roof and why.

Commercial Roofs and the Cool Roof Rule

Ontario has some of the largest warehouse roofs in the country, and many smaller shops and offices here are good coating candidates too. On some jobs a coating counts as a reroof or an alteration under the state energy code. We check with the city on permits and cool roof rules before work starts.