By David Barron

Roof coatings can protect our environment, help our homeowner’s budget, as well as help maintain operating costs for building owners.
The future of roof protection and wall painting from the roof to the foundation is now. The painting industry and their manufacturers have
improved and developed roof coatings to be more durable, long lasting and energy efficient. Also, roof coating is a way of protecting, sustaining and even insulating your home or commercial building from the outside elements of the cold and ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
These coatings can be applied with the same equipment painter’s use. Roof coatings are seamless membranes and can fix roof leaks permanently. Chemist and manufacturers in the painting industry, through research and development, have developed products to improve the beauty and protection of our homes and commercial buildings while conserving both money and environmental resources.
Most roofs will benefit from a coating system, especially on any flat roof. The reason for this is that all flat roofs should be coated with reflective white to maximize energy conservation. These applications will keep the heat out into the atmosphere and will eliminate the radiant heat from being absorbed into and through the walls.
The sustainability of a roof coating is directly related to the specified thickness. The manufacturer’s warranty of any coating is from 5-15 years depending on the thickness of the application and type of roof. All coatings are sustainable when properly maintained and can simply be recoated to extend the life of your roof even further and don’t need to be scraped off the roof when the time comes.
A roof coating job is a fraction of the cost of replacement and there are no disruptions associated with a roof coating. They are considered a maintenance expense and do not need to be depreciated. Almost every roof can benefit from sustainable coatings which are available in any color, such as terracotta tile, barn red sheet metal, charcoal cement tile, rich brown sloped asphalt shingle, to name a few. Any known roof leaks should be repaired prior to application of roof protection painting. If your roof is not leaking you should immediately apply and maintain a protective coating and you will never need to re-roof again.
Whether it’s traditional painting, roof coating to provide energy efficiency, or reflective energy efficient coatings, a protective application to your roof will extend its’ useful life and will
reflect up to 90% of the sun’s heat. Also, your air
conditioner will not need to work as hard to keep you cool. When your roof stays cool it will last longer.
Acknowledgement: Information was provided by Don Freed of Foothill Painting Company Co., Inc. whose company is experienced in the use of this product. For more information contact Don at 818-352-2888 or at: www.roofcoatingcontractor.com.