Roof coatings

Hello everyone. I'm trying to learn more about what to expect adding roof coating services to my business. Mostly flat smooth SBS type roofs. Equipment, labor budgets, restrictions, etc. Thanks in advance.>>>

@ John, the carpenter: 1st I got to know why or how it is leaking before I propose a solution.

welcome to the world of roofing......

If a local contractor that must promote a material only warranty, or conklin doesn't inspect warranted roof systems, is any indication of the company as a whole, I'd have no use for them.

Actually it is being used in New Zealand and Australia. We have done many roofs in Florida, Iowa, Chicago, St. Louis and more with the product. If buying it in bulk the cost drops to $85 a gallon. We have used it on every roof type out there. But you are definately right. If it's not applied right, just like everything else it will fail. The nice part for our customers are the tax breaks for the product and incentives. For example in Florida Let's say we do an install at $4 Sq ft. The FP&L rebate drops it to $3.55, then depending on tax bracket, immediate deductions drops it to $3.25 and with 179D tax credit it drops it to $2.85 sq ft. And they back the warranty hands down. They even backed one that we applied incorrectly, just because we were new at applying it. Can't say enough about this company.

That is exactly what I would do....

Welcome to the world of the roofers. Basically it will always come down to the proper preparation and the proper application of whatever you are applying. Lots of things work, and some of them work very well. It is hard to beat having gravity work for you as in a pitch to the surface. How handy are you? How much do you want to spend? How long do you want it to last? Have you ever applied a rubber roof before? How about a coating? You will get as many answers to these questions as there are roofers or coaters or salesmen trying to make a buck. good luck!

Hello

I had to sign up for this blog because I was so intriqued by the responses I read related to roof coatings.

I learned a lot from everyone. I was first going to use a coating called "Polarroof"; then "Sealofles" the "Koolcoat" and on and on and on.

I even looked at the "Final Flat Roof" website to see what they had to say.

Basically, I have 7600 sq ft of rubber on a quanset style roof with two flat roofs attached on each side. They leak, especially around the AC roof unit. I'm taking that off this week. The rubber is not sealed between the quonset roof curve and the flat roof. It is just expanded over the intersection. You can poke it and it will flex several inches.

My first thought was to put a metal roof over the structure. Frame it from the curved peak down to the parapet. Install two knee walls over the 12 foot wide flat roof. I received a lot of flack from people and contractors. It will leak, it will leak, it will leak. I have a metal roof over my head right now. It leaked the first month I put it on, but I located the improperly installed screws and haven't had a leak since.

OK, do I coat the rubber membrane which is black, make it white, repair the leaks around the old AC unit and along the parapet walls???

Or do I put a new roof on it. The dome does not leak a drop. The rubber is great on the dome. Shame to have to put metal over that.

Thanks John

WestcoatShane Said: quote/]JET Said:

WestcoatShane Said: TPO has not shown anyone any reason it can boast anything other than being the greatest rip off product in the 21st century. Tarp systems like it and old black rubber EPDM in the Pacific Northwest has done nothing but shrink, split, fracture and fail everywhere I look. Experiments in the industry without any real proved track record for the region has done nothing but steal money from honest ( I use that word loosely) business owners. Asphalt roofs have always been the best roofs to use the only down turn for those manby pamby roofers is its hot and dirty. Spoiled roofers who dont like to get icky push that clean heat welded tarp membrane and I hate seeing it. Hot tar the roof and after a few years preserve it with the old and tried and true asphalt emulsion. Just about every Fred Meyers has done this and there roofs decades later has yet to need to be removed.

Sorry but I disagree.......btw, how many tpo, pvc, or epdm roofs have you installed?

JET

Jet, I dont have to rub crap on my face to know it doesnt make me look younger. We looked into the Tarp systems and saw TPO was failing all over the place. PVC at least looks like it is working out there. I have been on many TPO roofs and seen the same thing, stress cracks, splitting, shrinking, hardened materials and most of all caulking failures. It is a matter of time for TPO to head where all my TP goes, down the toilet. I feel bad for all those business owners who got suckered into buying that crap. The NRCA doesnt support it, and if you Google TPO failures you better pack a lunch because you got a great deal of reading to do.

Just answer the question and then I'll decide if your opinion matters..........deal?

JET http://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/rcs/users/JET/

Okay here it is, tpo,pvc,hbu,torch,coatings, whatever it is companies spend millions of dollars to make a roof system that is better than the next guys, installed properly any of them should last. with that said, here is the real problem the Warranty! What roofers don't back there roofs anymore its all done through the manufacture? That's not saying much for the roofing co. Any shit ball roof will last two years. If these roofer installing these roofs thought they were so great why only two years of warranty. We give 5-10 and 15 year warranty's from my co. Because I believe in my system. The question is do you!

JET is in a part of the country where emulsion is a little less practical (Florida) due to the humidity. Although there are 10 or 12 in Florida doing it. We also have a rig in Puerto Rico near the Rain Forest and he does ok, and Westcoatshane recently helped us sell one in Cuarcauo near Aruba, and it doesn't get any more humid than that. It can be done, just have to be more careful.

quote/]JET Said:

WestcoatShane Said: TPO has not shown anyone any reason it can boast anything other than being the greatest rip off product in the 21st century. Tarp systems like it and old black rubber EPDM in the Pacific Northwest has done nothing but shrink, split, fracture and fail everywhere I look. Experiments in the industry without any real proved track record for the region has done nothing but steal money from honest ( I use that word loosely) business owners. Asphalt roofs have always been the best roofs to use the only down turn for those manby pamby roofers is its hot and dirty. Spoiled roofers who dont like to get icky push that clean heat welded tarp membrane and I hate seeing it. Hot tar the roof and after a few years preserve it with the old and tried and true asphalt emulsion. Just about every Fred Meyers has done this and there roofs decades later has yet to need to be removed.

Sorry but I disagree.......btw, how many tpo, pvc, or epdm roofs have you installed?

JET

Jet, I dont have to rub crap on my face to know it doesn't make me look younger. We looked into the Tarp systems and saw TPO was failing all over the place. PVC at least looks like it is working out there. I have been on many TPO roofs and seen the same thing, stress cracks, splitting, shrinking, hardened materials and most of all caulking failures. It is a matter of time for TPO to head where all my TP goes, down the toilet. I feel bad for all those business owners who got suckered into buying that crap. The NRCA doesn't support it, and if you Google TPO failures you better pack a lunch because you got a great deal of reading to do.

Sensational Said: Roof Coatings are NOT a new roof. They do however have a place for extending the life of an existing roof. If the existing roof is prepped properly and the appropriate material is used, you can have a successful project. Since I have held positions at the contractor, distributor, and manufactures levels, I tend to only support coating metal roofs. Just one guys opinion.

"Coating" is merely a physical designation as to a process/method, and has absolutely no bearing on service life or quality. The materials used in some "coating" systems, if installed in multiple plies, can technically be considered a cold built-up roof system.

Anecdotal evidence isn't the best kind but when coupled with a few decades of experience, it can lead you in the right general direction. My 32 years of experience has taught me a few things, such as: * The NRCA at one time said the average 20-year specification hot built-up roof (to the deck, not as a recover) last 7-1/2 to 9 years. Those may be old stats but they are in line with my experience here in West Texas where we get every extreme from zero degrees in winter, to 114 in summer, 90 mph wionds, and grapefruit sized hail. Most hot roofs around here don't last over 15 years. * Emulsion roofs, classified as a "coating" system, can easily last 25-40 years when done properly. I personally installed many that are now 27 years old, watertight, and look like they have a lot of years left. * I've inspected emulsion roofs in California that are over 40 years old and still going strong.

We have worked hard in this region to get emulsion roofs classified as a "coating," not because they don't last longer than if you would have torn to the deck and gone back with new hot BUR, but because that gives us and the building owner a lot of more cost-effective options, namely, a tear off is not required. Since emulsion is a breather asphalt, it cannot blister, and since we remove 3 times more weight in loose gravel/dirt than we put back on in emulsion, weight cannot be a factor. Given those 2 facts, tear off is often a colassal waste of money, time, and exposes everyone involved to huge risk of unexpected rain.

As usual, the competence of the contractor has as much to do with the success of the roof as does the system used. Coatings get a bad rap because it takes a lot less wherewithal to get into those systems than it does to become a hot roofer. With most "coating" systems, buy a $1500 used Graco pump and you're in business. With more conventional systems it takes a lot more than that. To get into the chopped glass/emulsion system takes an even bigger investement - generally $25,000+. It is possible to buy a used rig for $10,000 and teach yourself to use it - and those guys are generally the ones installing bad roofs because they have no clue what they're doing.

Roof Coatings are NOT a new roof. They do however have a place for extending the life of an existing roof. If the existing roof is prepped properly and the appropriate material is used, you can have a successful project. Since I have held positions at the contractor, distributor, and manufacture's levels, I tend to only support coating metal roofs. Just one guy's opinion.

WestcoatShane Said: TPO has not shown anyone any reason it can boast anything other than being the greatest rip off product in the 21st century. Tarp systems like it and old black rubber EPDM in the Pacific Northwest has done nothing but shrink, split, fracture and fail everywhere I look. Experiments in the industry without any real proved track record for the region has done nothing but steal money from honest ( I use that word loosely) business owners. Asphalt roofs have always been the best roofs to use the only down turn for those manby pamby roofers is its hot and dirty. Spoiled roofers who dont like to get icky push that clean heat welded tarp membrane and I hate seeing it. Hot tar the roof and after a few years preserve it with the old and tried and true asphalt emulsion. Just about every Fred Meyers has done this and there roofs decades later has yet to need to be removed.

Sorry but I disagree.......btw, how many tpo, pvc, or epdm roofs have you installed?

JET

Mike H Said:

JET Said: Weve got about two million square feet of Stevens TPO that is now showing stress cracks around skylights, etc. Talked to the ER rep and hes sending out some info for us to look at. Now that DOW is out of the single-ply business the Stevens issue is dead which is bad. Im hoping my distributor will step up with some assistance but Im not holding my breath.

JET

I just hate it when my wife does this to me, but I cant resist. Its that Silver Spoon thing.

[size=5]I told ya so.[/size]

:blush: :blink: :silly: :woohoo:

PS, to stay on topic, Conklin is, or at least it used to be, sold like Amway. Network. Its the product a lot of the Amish/Mennonite use around here and youll see one guy sell it, and another guy put it on if the seller is too busy.

Guess I missed this reply Mike.........refresh my memory on what you told me.

JET

TPO has not shown anyone any reason it can boast anything other than being the greatest rip off product in the 21st century. Tarp systems like it and old black rubber EPDM in the Pacific Northwest has done nothing but shrink, split, fracture and fail everywhere I look. Experiments in the industry without any real proved track record for the region has done nothing but steal money from honest ( I use that word loosely) business owners. Asphalt roofs have always been the best roofs to use the only down turn for those manby pamby roofers is its hot and dirty. Spoiled roofers who don't like to get icky push that clean heat welded tarp membrane and I hate seeing it. Hot tar the roof and after a few years preserve it with the old and tried and true asphalt emulsion. Just about every Fred Meyers has done this and there roofs decades later has yet to need to be removed.

IF thats true then Ive never seen it, and if its true then the consequences are far less than the consequences of stress cracks on a single ply which is at worst an immediate leak and at best a potential one (which quickly becomes imminent). The crack in the SPF will take years for a leak to develop and if the re-coat programme was implemented then the effects of the crack will be negated when the re-coat is applied. Never seen SPF applied to a steel deck either. How do you eliminate the telegraphing?" I've seen it done.they first mechanically attach insulation boards to the steel deck then apply SPF.Cracks develop at the joints of insulation.maybe they should apply two layers of insulation and stagger the joints.