Roof Coating

The roof is an essential part of any building. It protects your home and business from elements such as rain, snow, and hail. While a roof can withstand the worst that Mother Nature has to throw at it for many years, it will eventually require repairs or replacement. Roof coatings are a proven way to delay the inevitable and keep your roof protected for years to come.

Roof Waterproofing

A leaking roof is often associated with mold, rotted wood, and interior water damage. These fixes can be expensive, depending on the degree of damage. Home and business owners can take preventative action by contacting a professional roofing company to install a roof coating. This coating will fill in any existing holes on a roof, therefore preventing leaks. There are also many other benefits to this waterproofing process.

What are the benefits of roof coatings?

• Improved protection: Roof coatings can help protect from severe weather, especially hail. Hailstones can cause extreme damage to your roof, and roof coatings add an additional layer of protection.
• Cost savings: A new roof can cost you thousands of dollars. Roof coatings typically only cost about 30% to 40% of a full tear-off.
• Energy savings: These coatings can help reduce the amount of energy needed to cool your home. Most roof coatings have reflective properties, which means that the coating will reflect ultraviolet (UV) rays that hit your roof and cause it to heat up.

The Different Types of Roof Coatings

Is it time for your roof to be redone? It isn’t uncommon, considering that most roof coatings do not last more than two decades at most. The good news is that you have tons of options where roof coatings are concerned, and you can redo your roof with any of the following roofing options.

Sealing Products

These types of roofing products seal your roof against water damage. They range from epoxy to asphalt, and create a long lasting coating. In terms of performance, there is very little that can seep through these sealing products. However, they only work on certain roof types, such as flat commercial roofs. Other roof coatings are better suited for other roof types.

Asphalt is one of the cheapest options. A roofer can grade the asphalt to help the roof drain and not puddle after storms. The grade rises in the middle of the asphalt coated roof and dips toward drainage holes and/or eavestroughs. The black asphalt acts as a good insulation layer, too. While this is the most economical of all options, it does have a lot of drawbacks when compared to other roofing systems.

Barrier Roof Coatings

Barrier roof coatings are very good for slanted roofs such as the ones typically found on most homes. One such roofing coat is an elastomeric coat. Elastomeric roofing products are typically spray-on or paint-on roof coatings that contain a plastic or rubbery component. When these coatings dry, they quickly seal the entire roof and provide waterproofing like no other product.

An especially nice feature of elastomeric coatings is that it expands and contracts with the roof during the extreme temperature changes of summer and winter. An elastomeric coat is a lot like an epoxy in appearance and texture, except that its ability to expand and contract set it apart from other roof coatings and roof products. The cost of an elastomeric roofing application depends on the total square footage of your roof and any preexisting water damage or waterproofing issues.

Still, the cost of this particular barrier product is quite reasonable when compared to other roof coatings. Ask your roofer for a quote for this material and a comparison to other types of roof coatings, like silicone.

Silicone Roof Coatings

In terms of different roof systems, silicone is in a class by itself. It will cost a little more than your other options, but the life expectancy of this product outshines a lot of the others. Where asphalt roof coatings will eventually crack under harsh sun like many a road or street, silicone doesn’t crack. It refuses to crack.

Silicone also doubles as an insulation layer. Its insulation properties are akin to vacuum-sealing heat in a container. Nothing can escape the silicone layer, and nothing can seep in either. It is easily one of the best high performance, long life roof coatings you can put on your roof. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.

The Details Involved in Coating a Roof

After you select one of the systems for coating your roof, the next step is to examine the details. How well does it act as insulation, or will you need extra insulation under the system or option you have chosen? Some systems may allow for colors, while other systems limit colors such that your option is white, gray, or black. Cost may be important to you, too, in which case you have to decide how many details you want to add to your choice.

If you need help choosing details, ask your contractor. He or she can provide details that come standard with each option as well as some details you can customize to your liking.

Contact Us

Ridgeline Construction Roofing & Exteriors is one of the highest-rated waterproof roof coatings companies in Huntsville, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida. If you are interested in waterproofing your roof, give us a call at (256) 325-1345 or complete our online form. We offer free estimates to all of our commercial and residential customers!