Liquid applied roofing has been around for decades.

At first, it was nothing more than glorified paint. There was no “roofing systems”, just a bucket of material that was typically dumped/painted onto a dirty surface. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t.

Thankfully, chemistry and material science has finally caught up with the old idea of liquid applied roofing. Roof coatings have not only become a reliable staple in the world of roofing materials, in many ways they outperform singly ply systems.

Regardless of which coating type (Acrylic, Silicone, SEBS, Ect) is best suited for your application some things remain the same across all systems in order to achieve quality, warrantable work.

Cleaning

No matter how good the material is, or how well it is applied it will soon become a failed system if the surface is contaminated with oxidation, dirt, grease, ect. If the surface is too dirty for the material to form a good bond with the substrate, then the roof system is doomed from the start. This critical first step is where we see many of our competitors fall short. At All American Roof Coatings we don’t just clean the roof, we get it “kitchen clean”.

First Pass Half Clean

First, we start by applying a biodegradable cleaner that softens oxidation, dirt, rust scale, and grease. After that we intensely clean with high pressure water to remove any contamination, rust scale, and failed sealants/repair attempts.

We also give the inside of your gutters the same level of cleaning as we do the roof. This not only ensures that we don’t have debris blowing up onto the new coating during spray work. It also provides the perfect opportunity to have your gutter effectively re-sealed during the period between roof cleaning and the start of spray work. Gutter sealant is like anything else. It needs a clean surface to properly bond to.

Priming

Not every roof/roof coating requires primers. Primer used depends on the substrate, its condition, and the coating material (Acrylic, Silicone, SEBS,Ect) being applied. Some roofs will require the entire roof to have primer applied. Some roofs, as in the case of a metal roof that will be receiving an SEBS coating system will not require a primer even with some rust present.

Sealing/Repairs

Regardless of which coating system is going to be applied, all seams, fastener heads, and penetrations will be sealed with the designated sealant required for the coating that will be applied. Many of the sealants we use are “flashing grade” sealants. This means that most of the time fabric reinforcement is not required.

It is at this stage of the process that penetrations and any repairs that do require fabric reinforcement will have the fabric applied. This is also the point at which all of your leaks have been fixed should we get bad weather before the spray work starts.

This is another area that we often see our competition fall short. At AARC we stop the water before we even get the coating material out of the truck. We properly clean/prime, then seal the leaks and make repairs. The coating should be used as a seamless protective cover for the sealant, repairs, and substrate.

With this philosophy we win every time.

Coating

This is the final step. With the exception of silicone roof coating, this step will be broken into two coats depending on the warranty period selected and mil thickness required for the given system.

When applying darker custom colors, it is usually best to apply one coat of base and two coats of finish coating.

Both SEBS roof coating as well as silicone roof coating are rain ready in as little as a few hours depending on the weather conditions. We can apply these products in the morning and be perfectly safe with heavy rain that same afternoon with no harm done to the new roof coating.

Acrylic roof coatings require a longer period free from rain and freezing temperatures in order to cure properly.

Once this final step of your new roof system is completed you will have a totally seamless liquid applied roof membrane that will keep your building dry and your energy cost down for many years to come.