Roof Coatings & Repair in Phoenix, AZ

What exactly is a roof coating?

A roof coating is a fluid applied, monolithic, fully adhered, roofing membrane. Some have elastic properties that allow it to stretch and return to their original shape without damaging the membrane. A roof coating is the topmost layer of protection for the membrane, receiving the brunt impact of sunlight (both infrared and ultraviolet), rain, hail and other physical damage. A Phoenix roof must endure the extreme Valley heat. Most roof coating can be applied by brush, roller or spray. Roof coatings can be used to restore metal roofs, built up roofs, modified bitumen roofs, polyurethane foam roofs, and even single ply roof systems. Coatings are ideal for Phoenix foam roof repair.

The two main purposes of coatings are: To protect roof membranes, resulting in longer roof life cycles and to reflect solar radiation, resulting in lower energy costs. This is especially true in the extreme Phoenix climate on large commercial roofs.

Reflectivity: (Albedo) the ability to reflect the visible, infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths of the sun, reducing heat transfer to the building) Basically how much sun (radiation) the coating reflects.

Thermal Emittance: Usually confused with thermal emissivity. Thermal emittance is radiant emittance of heat. Basically how fast the coating emits the heat away from the roof.

Example during a typical summer’s day you can walk on a roof coated with elastomeric coating bear foot because it has a high thermal emittance. Walking on an aluminum-coated roof would most likely be very uncomfortable because it has a lower thermal emittance and retains the heat.

Phoenix roof coating options

The two most popular roof coatings are Elastomeric coatings and Aluminum coatings.

Elastomeric coatings: The most common and popular of the two. Elastomeric coatings are primary used to protect sprayed polyurethane foam roof systems. With continued development elastomeric coatings are being used for commercial roof restorations and are considered “green” by most governments. Elastomeric coatings have high reflectivity and high thermal emittance.

Aluminum coatings: there are two types of aluminum coatings, one is a petroleum asphalt base and the other is a low VOC water base product. The water base product last longer and limited volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. Aluminum has high reflective properties. It is capable of reflecting out almost seventy percent of the sunlight. Contains millions of polished aluminum flakes, which “leaf” to the surface of the coating, forming a solid shield of pure aluminum. Ideal for commercial roofing systems.