Roofs are a key part of your everyday life, and ensuring they’re protected keeps your life running smoothly. In a commercial setting, protecting your roof makes sure your operations go as they should. One way to protect a commercial roof is with coatings, so what should you know?
1. What is Commercial Roof Coating?
A commercial roof coating is a way to protect the structure and materials making up the roof of a building. The coating protects the roof from UV rays and other weather conditions. These coating systems can make a roof more fire-resistant, and they provide a waterproof layer.
Roof coating uses a thick coating formula that’s typically inclusive of high-quality resin.
The resins of the coating formula help with the maintenance of the elastic properties of a roof through its life cycle.
2. Roof Coating Can Protect Against the Most Common Causes of Damage
Some of the most frequently seen reasons for roof damage that coating can protect against include:
- Water: Damage from water and moisture is often the biggest concern on roofs. It can come from two main forms—precipitation that’s heavy and ponding water. If you live in an area with a lot of rain, then you want to ensure that the roof coating you choose is intended to stand up against this weather over time. Not all roof coatings that do well in the rain also stand up against ponding water, so be mindful of this. For ponding water, silicone or specifically formulated acrylic tends to do best.
- Sun: The sun’s rays can damage your roof, especially if you’re somewhere with a lot of hot days and sunlight. You might opt for an acrylic reflective coating that won’t absorb as much solar energy.
- Foot traffic: Foot traffic on a roof can sound unusual, but some roofs do have foot traffic in a commercial setting. For example, if your commercial roof has a helicopter pad, you’ll have to think about this.
- Extreme weather: If you live in a place that sees hurricanes, high winds, or other types of extreme weather, you’ll have to think about your coating. You might need an FM-approved roof.
3. The Benefits
There are quite a few benefits that come with coating a roof.
These can include:
- Roof coatings can be an environmentally friendly option. You can avoid filling up the landfill with your old roofing products. Instead, you can reuse your current roof materials and restore them. You can also use roof coatings as part of your process to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program for Sustainable Sites, Energy and Atmosphere, and Materials and Resources. You can also reduce your energy costs with a roof coating.
- Roof coatings are breathable, allowing moisture to escape.
- When you have a roof coating, there’s a low threshold of permeability, meaning they won’t stay damp or wet. As mentioned above, they’re breathable, so moisture can escape, and that prevents the growth of mold, mildew, and algae. If you have a high humidity area, this can be a good way to prevent the growth of harmful, damaging microorganisms.
- Coating adds an element of fire resistance to your roof. There are specific coatings available that are UL listed for safety, acting as fire retardants. You may also qualify for additional insurance discounts.
4. There Are Different Types of Roof Coatings
There are several different types of roof coatings to be aware of if you’re going to compare them and find the one best suited to your commercial needs. Some of the most popular types of coatings are:
- Acrylic roof coating is good for commercial properties that are in high UV-ray environments. They aren’t too reflective, and typically these coatings come in tan, white or gray, although you can get colors.
- Asphalt coatings are available in solvent-based emulsions. They can be aluminized or black. An acrylic coating can be especially effective when it’s applied on top of an asphalt substrate. An aluminized acrylic roof coating is good for a UV-stable system that’s reflective.
- Polyurethane roof coatings are usually solvent-based. They have high abrasion resistance, so they’re good for roofs with heavy foot traffic.
Finally, silicone coatings are also popular, and they’re well-suited to environments with high UV rays because they’re reflective to resist them. Silicone coatings are also good in places that get a lot of rain or roofs where water ponds.
