SILICONE ROOF COATINGS HAVE A SHORT HISTORY
However, in their very short time on the market, they have made a large impact and established a name for themselves.
The history of silicone roof coatings is still a young one: first used in roofing applications in the 1960’s in response to sprayed polyurethane foam coming in to the mainstream roofing market. This is when they first began being used in roofing applications and this is when they first began to be seen as a legitimate roofing material.
History of Silicone Roof Coatings: The Experiment
Silicone coatings weren’t necessarily designed for roofing applications. The history of silicone coatings starts when they were basically used as an experiment on spray foam. Once the foam became more popular, the building owners that had it installed and the contractors who installed it began to notice that after not too long, the UV light from the sun began to deteriorate the surface of the foam. It developed large holes, turned a strange orange color and was no longer capable of performing as it should.
When the revelation that UV rays destroy spray foam came about, contractors and building owners began protecting the foam with many things, including coatings. This is the first step in the history of silicone coatings. Essentially as an experiment, silicone coatings were applied over top of SPF roofs after installation and the life and performance of the material was greatly extended and improved.
From this point on, building owners and facility managers continued to experiment with the coatings. They used different thicknesses, different formulas, and different installation techniques until we arrived today at the currently optimal system of spray applying low solids silicone coating over sprayed polyurethane foam.
Steps Along the Way
The journey for silicone coatings has been a very quick one when compared to most other roofing materials. As stated earlier, these coatings have only been used in roofing applications for around 50 years, and most of their popularity has come from word of mouth, thanks to their excellent performance. Because silicone coatings have so many great benefits, almost everyone that uses them loves them. People that install silicone coatings almost immediately become salesmen for the material. This is how silicone roof coatings have grown so quickly and this is how they continue to grow – as more people use them, more people talk about them, so more people use them.
Conclusion
What started off as an experiment over 50 years ago has become an excellent roofing material that many people love and recommend to others. The history of silicone roof coatings is not a long one, it is a short one characterized by rapid growth. However, even with such growth in the last 50 years, silicone roof coatings still have a lot more room to grow in the roofing market. It will be interesting to see how the history of silicone roof coatings reads in 10, 20, even 50 more years from now. Will they continue to rapidly grow in popularity or level off? We believe they will continue growing speedily but no one knows for sure.