Commercial Roof Coatings & Restoration — Orlando

Commercial Roofing

A roof coating is not paint, and it is not a new roof. It is a seamless, elastomeric membrane applied as a liquid over an existing roof, bonded to it, and cured into a reflective surface that puts UV protection back over material that has lost its own. On a TPO, modified bitumen or metal roof where the substrate is still doing its job, that is a genuine restoration: the seams get reinforced, the flashings get re-detailed, and the whole surface goes back to reflecting the Orlando sun rather than absorbing it.

It is also the roofing product most often sold to people whose roof does not qualify. A coating over saturated insulation seals the water in, hides the problem from the next inspector and makes the eventual replacement more expensive. A coating over a delaminating membrane peels with it. So the first thing we do on any coating inquiry is a moisture survey and a set of core cuts, and we walk away from the coating if the survey says so. This page explains what qualifies, what the work involves, and what a coating cannot do.

The moisture survey that decides eligibility

Before we quote a coating we need to know what is under the membrane. A visual walk catches the obvious: soft spots, blisters, ponding rings, membrane that has gone brittle. It cannot see wet insulation under a membrane that looks fine. So we survey the roof for moisture, using infrared scanning at dusk when wet insulation holds heat longer than dry, or a nuclear or capacitance meter on a grid, and we confirm the readings with core samples that come out photographed and mapped. The output is a plan of the roof showing wet and dry areas as a percentage.

A roof that is dry, or wet in small isolated patches that can be cut out and replaced, qualifies. A roof with widespread saturation does not, whatever the sales pitch says, and we will show you the map and point you at the replacement page instead.

Silicone or acrylic

• SiliconeHandles ponding water; does not break down under standing water; harder to recoat except with more silicone; picks up dirt
• AcrylicLower cost, easy recoat, good reflectivity; degrades under ponding, so needs a roof that drains
• Base coat and topcoatMost systems are two or more coats to a measured thickness, checked wet and dry
• ReinforcementPolyester fabric embedded at seams, flashings and repairs before the topcoat

On a Central Florida low-slope roof with any history of ponding, silicone is usually the answer despite the cost, because a summer of afternoon storms will leave water standing somewhere and acrylic will not survive it there. On a metal roof or a well-drained membrane, acrylic is a sound and more economical choice. The manufacturer’s spec for the substrate decides the primer and the thickness, and we measure that thickness during the work rather than estimating it.

Preparation is most of the job

A coating only performs as well as what it is stuck to. The roof is pressure-cleaned to remove dirt, chalk and the biological film Orlando humidity grows; on a modified bitumen roof loose granules are removed. Every seam, lap and flashing is inspected and reinforced with fabric set in base coat. Rusted metal is treated and primed. Failed pitch pans are refilled, drain strainers replaced, and any wet insulation identified in the survey is cut out and patched with new material and membrane. Then the base coat goes on, then the topcoat to the specified thickness, with a wet-mil gauge in hand.

Skipping the prep is how a coating fails early, and it is the part of the job you cannot see once the topcoat is down, so we photograph the reinforced details before they are covered. The Fairbanks Avenue building at the top of this page is shown after its coating, and the photograph below shows the same roof before it; your close-out photographs show what went in between.

What a coating cannot fix

A coating does not add structural strength, does not dry out wet insulation, does not fix a deck that is rusting or rotting, does not correct ponding caused by a sagging structure, and does not rescue a membrane that has shrunk and pulled its flashings off the walls. It does not make a roof with two roofs already on it eligible for a third. It also will not turn a badly detailed roof into a well-detailed one unless the details are rebuilt as part of the prep. When we find those conditions, the honest scope is a repair of the specific problem, a section replacement, or a full replacement, and we will lay out which. A coating sold over those problems is the most expensive cheap option in commercial roofing.

Reflectivity, recoats and the budget angle

A white coating drops the rooftop surface temperature substantially at midday, which reduces heat driven into conditioned space and slows the aging of everything under it. Most systems are designed to be recoated on a cycle rather than replaced: when the topcoat has weathered, the roof is cleaned and a new topcoat goes over the existing one, resetting the surface again without ever tearing anything off. For an owner or a board that is how a coating changes the budget conversation. A replacement is a capital project, planned and funded years ahead. A coating and its recoats can often run through an operating or reserve budget as maintenance, which for an HOA, a church or a school with a fixed capital plan can be the difference between doing the roof this year and doing it in three. Call (407) 871-6159 and we will survey the roof before either of us talks about which budget it comes from.

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