Serving Kern County for over 40 years
Roof Coating: Everything You Need to Know About Coating a Roof
Your roof is your home or business’s main source of protection from the elements. Here at Wilson Brothers Roofing, we want to make sure that your home or business—and everyone living or working there— feels safe and secure under your roof.
Wilson Brothers Roofing is here to make sure Bakersfield and greater Kern County residents know all of the options for keeping their roofs safe, well maintained, and long lasting. One of the options for ensuring this is roof coating.
In this article, we will review what roof coating is, why you need roof coating, and the benefits and types of roof coating materials.
What Is Roof Coating?
Roof coating is the process of applying an extra layer of a coating material to your roof. This extra layer, which usually includes a type of resin, acts as added protection and helps prevent wear and tear. We will discuss the different options for roof coating material in more detail a little further down the page.
The purpose of this roof coating is to help prevent damage and minimize the aging process of your roof. Roof coating maximizes your roof’s life expectancy, meaning you save money on new roofing and/or repair costs.
Coating a roof with viable roof coating formulas also provides your home with added protection from the elements, reduces energy costs, and enhances your roof’s waterproofing—to name just a few of its benefits!
Why Do I Need Roof Coating?
Roof coating provides many benefits for your roof, the most important one being keeping your roof protected from wear and tear, which ultimately leads to a longer lifespan for your roof.
Investing in a roof coating system that is well suited to your roof can maximize your roof’s lifespan in a practical, environmentally friendly way. Sustain your roof’s wellbeing by having a professional at Wilson Brothers Roofing apply roof top coating.
Benefits of Coating a Roof
There are many benefits to roof top coating. Roof coating material adds a level of health/protection to your roof that an uncoated roof simply does not have. Here are some of the many benefits to coating for a roof.
Waterproofing
Nobody wants a leaky roof. Leaky roofs can not only cause damage to the roof itself, but also to your home’s interior, destroying that which is both seen and unseen (i.e., hidden inside the walls).
Applying a roof coating means further waterproofing your roof. The roof coating materials will fill in the spaces that may be more permeable.
Prevent Chemical Damage
There are many chemicals that your roof may be exposed to over time. Whether they are chemicals in the air, smoke from chimneys, or other types of roof exhaust coming from the roof vents, your roof will be exposed to an array of chemicals during its lifetime. Applying a roof top coating material is a great way to protect your roof from harsh and damaging chemicals.
Reliable Maintenance
Coating a roof is a great way to keep up with your roof’s maintenance. A roof coating provides protection, helping to proactively prevent damage.
Quick Installation
Not only is roof coating a great way to maintain your roof, it’s also one of the easier and quicker maintenance methods. Roof coating is a prevention method that does not require you to vacate your home or business while it is applied . The process is fairly simple and will not make a lot of noise, so you can go about your day as you usually would.
Protection From the Elements
Water damage isn’t the only damage that can happen to roofs. UV rays can discolor your roof, and wind, snow, sleet, and hail can also do damage. Having a roof coating further protects your roof from the elements that can cause wear and tear and shorten your roof’s lifespan.
Reflective Properties
Top roof coating offers reflective properties that can greatly benefit your roof. This reflectivity is economically and environmentally friendly because your roof can better prevent heat absorption. When your roof has enhanced reflective properties, you can save both money and energy.
Environmentally Conscious
Because most roof coating materials are nontoxic, they do not pose a threat to the environment. They also extend your roof’s life, which has environmental benefits. Roof coating is not permanent, but it can reduce the cost and environmental impact of putting old roofing materials in landfills as often as would be necessary without roof coating.
The reflective properties mentioned above are another environmentally conscious attribute of coating a roof. The reflectiveness reduces energy costs and the environmental impact of constantly running home energy systems.
Different Roof Coating Material Types
There are many different types of roof coating materials that you can use for your commercial or residential roof. Here is a list of a few of the most popular roof protection coating materials to consider when coating your roof.
Many of the roof coating options below are in the elastomeric roof coating family, including acrylic, butyl rubber, polyurethane, and silicon.
Acrylic Roof Coating
Acrylic roof coating is one of the most popular roof coating options in the industry due to its durability. It is also one of the less expensive options for coating a roof. Acrylic roof coatings are also dirt-resistant, meaning that you see less dirt and dust accumulation on your roof.
Acrylic roof coating materials are well suited to climates like ours here in Bakersfield and Kern Country because they are highly reflective. The California sun will bounce off of the coating, leaving your interior cooler on hot, sunny days.
Acrylic roof coating material is quite easy to apply, cost-effective, and does its job under the right circumstances. However, since acrylic coatings are water-based, they work better in places that stay above 50ºF and don’t get a lot of precipitation.
When considering residential roof coating and commercial roof coating, acrylic is great for metal roofs. It is known to restore older metal roofs and protect newer ones. Of course, metal roofs are not the only option for acrylic roof coating. Talk to Wilson Brothers Roofing about acrylic for residential and commercial roof coatings.
Asphalt Emulsion Roof Coating
Asphalt emulsion is a mix of asphalt, water, and clay. Because of the use of water, this type of roof coating also does better in higher temperatures and drier climates. Therefore, it can be a good option for your roof if you’re in the Kern County area.
This material is typically dark in color, meaning that, unlike its other roof coating counterparts, it has lower reflectivity, a property we will discuss later on this page. Therefore, it’s typical to find asphalt emulsion roof coatings paired with another, more reflective roof coating. It typically acts as a base layer, but it can also be found working alone as a viable roof coating material under the right circumstances.
Butyl Rubber Roof Coating
Butyl rubber is a great option for Kern County residents because of its reflectivity rating of 80-90%! It’s also great for restaurants, or anyplace that has a lot of vapor emissions. The material is usually quite viscous, even though it is solvent-based, not water-based. This means that it can take more butyl roof coating to cover a roof than other roof coating options.
Silicone Roof Coating
Silicone roof coating is a great roof coating material choice because of its durability and water resistance. It’s great for both residential and commercial roof coatings. It’s also highly reflective, although it is important to note that it is known for collecting dirt, which can make a white silicone roof coating dusty.
Silicone is, however, great for harsh weather. Silicone roof coatings are very elastic and can hold water very well, especially compared to other types of roof coating systems.
Polyurethane Roof Coating
Polyurethane roof coating systems are extremely durable, particularly to foot traffic. If you have a lot of traffic on your building’s roof, this may be the option for you. Polyurethane is strong and elastic and does well in high heat. Talk to Wilson Brothers Roofing about the options for polyurethane roof coating that will best fit your needs.
Properties of Roof Coatings
Different types of roof coatings have different physical properties that you will need to consider. Talk to Wilson Brothers Roofing about each of these properties and what would be best for your home before choosing a roof top coating material.
Roof Coating Elongation
Elongation is like elasticity, or how stretchy the roof coating material is.
Have you ever opened a can of paint or glue and found there was a screen of rubbery-feeling material on the top or cap? When you peel it off, the amount that is stretched before ripping apart is the elongation.
The same principle applies to roof coating, except on a larger scale. A roof coating with a higher elongation percentage means that your roof coating is more elastic. A lower percentage means it’s more prone to cracking and peeling.
Roof Coating Reflectivity
Reflectivity is a measurement of UV rays bouncing off the top of the roof coating material. White roof coating is more reflective, while black roof coating and materials, such as dark shingles, are less reflective. Darker roofs usually absorb heat, which keeps heat in and can ultimately make your home or business warmer.
Reflectivity of UV rays is great for cutting energy use and costs. Reflectivity is usually measured on a scale of 0-100%. Talk to Wilson Brothers Roofing about your options for reflective top coating materials.
Roof Coating Water Resistance
Applying a top coat helps to waterproof your roof because it fills in the nooks and crannies in between your roofing materials. This is particularly important with residential roof coating because of the types of residential roofing materials (shingles, asphalt, etc.), as opposed to the coating of the typical flat or low-slope commercial roofing.
Perm rating measures the water resistance of your roof coating. Perm rating refers to permeability, or how much liquid can get through a certain type of material/substance.
Here’s the confusing part about perm rating. A material can have a high perm rating but still be water resistant. That’s because all roof coating materials are water resistant, but some are just thicker or less permeable than others.
What Is the Best Roof Coating?
We often get the question: “What is the best roof coating?” The answer is completely subjective to the type of roof material you have, the climate you live in, and the cost you are willing to pay.
We hope you have learned more about your options in this article. If you are considering a roof top coating or want more in-depth information about your roof coating options, contact Wilson Brothers Roofing today.
The Confusion Between Weather Coating Paint for Roof vs. Roof Coating
Weather coating paint for a roof is often mistaken for roof coating, and vice versa. Although the two do sound similar, they are completely different processes and materials.
Roof coating, as stated above, comes in clear layers that are applied to your roof; it is often of an elastic nature and provides protection for your roof.
Roof paint, on the other hand, is paint applied to your roofing material that changes the color of your roof. Roof paint does not protect your roof from UV rays, water, or other elements.
If you are looking for a durable, sustainable option for roof protection, roof coating is the way to go. Roof paint does not offer any weather protection.
Contact a Roof Coating Contractor at Wilson Brothers Roofing
Whether you are looking for residential roof coating or commercial roof coating, the experienced roofers at Wilson Brothers Roofing are here for you. We are your go-to for Bakersfield roofing installation services, such as roof maintenance, top coating, repairs, and more.
Talk with a roof coating contractor at our office today for any inquiries about applying a roof coating to your home or business. Give us a call at (661) 589-4297 or fill out an online contact form today! We look forward to hearing from you.
Do you have more questions about your roof? We offer commercial roofing services, residential roofing services, and other Bakersfield roofing services. Call us today with your questions.