Is Your Roof Ready for a Coating?
Before you can start down the path of choosing a roof coating, you have to be sure that your roof is a good candidate for one. Coatings are a maintenance solution for extending the life of an existing roof. If there’s extensive damage and too much wet insulation in your roof, it might be time for a new roof instead of a maintenance coating. Gaco can help you make this decision.
Narrow Your Coating Options by Knowing Your Building
If coatings are a viable solution, narrow your options by knowing your roof. From there, consider climate, building use and location, and the system requirements.
Building Type: What’s the Current Structure?
Does the building have a low slope roof or a steep slope roof? Is it easily seen from the ground? Does the structure need to stand up to pedestrian or vehicle traffic? What substrate material is currently on the roof? There’s a coating for each situation.
Low slope roof: Flat or low slope roofs are prone to ponding water. Gaco Silicone roof coatings have no ponding water exclusion, which favors this roof structure.
Steep slope roof: Steep slope roofs are designed to shed water easily. Any of the three coatings may be best for your building.
High traffic: Durability, tensile strength and impact resistance will need to come first. Consider urethane coatings first.
Visible roof: When a roof needs to look as good as it performs, turn to acrylics or urethanes.
Substrate: The substrate is a layer of material that supports other roof elements. Before applying a coating, you need to know your substrate. A primer or bleed trap on the material may be needed to ensure proper system performance.
Climate: Where’s It Located?
A building’s geographic location is of chief importance when choosing a roof coating. Different coatings are formulated with different strengths.
Hot, dry climates: Acrylics excel where there’s high heat and low humidity. They’re also a great way to transition a roof to a reflective surface to help save on cooling costs.
Warm, humid climates: Silicones are perfect for tropical climates where moisture is constant. They’re waterproof and resistant to standing water.
Extreme weather climates: Urethanes surpass acrylics and silicones with regard to tensile strength, making them ideal for areas that are prone to hail, heavy storms, and debris.
Building Use: What Do People Do in the Building?
Take into consideration the purpose of the building and how people interact in and around it.
For example, a restaurant or food processing plant will disperse animal fats onto the roof, degrading certain coatings. Such a facility would want a silicone coating for excellent guarding against fats. Similarly, a manufacturing plant might have chemicals dispersed onto the roof. A silicone or urethane would be a great choice for chemical resistance.
If a building needs to stay occupied during installation, picking a product with low VOCs and little disruption to daily operations should be strongly considered.
In the meantime, continue learning about coatings by watching another webinar or visiting our Builder/Owner resource center.
