SILICONE COATINGS ARE WEAK AND TEAR EASILY
Did that headline get your attention? Why would a silicone coating manufacturer admit that silicone is weak? Well, because silicone isn’t weak in the way you’re thinking. Some people think that saying silicone tears easily means it isn’t a good roofing product. Well, not really. Let’s look at why the flexibility of silicone is not a problem for your roof.
Silicone Can Be Torn Only When It’s Loose
If you have a small piece of silicone that isn’t adhered to anything, it can be easy to tear if you take a knife and make a slit. But it’s not very easy to tear silicone without a knife to start the cut. If the silicone is adhered to something, then it becomes almost impossible to tear. Silicone adopts the strength of whatever it adheres to. If you don’t have an edge and a slit in the silicone, it becomes very difficult to tear it. So yes, a piece of silicone (maybe a sample or a scrap) can be torn, especially if it is already damaged. But no, a piece of silicone on your roof with no loose edge is very unlikely to tear.
Dropped Items Can Create Slits
If silicone is installed on your roof and is adhered, then you may think that dropping a hammer, for instance, will rip it and cause it to tear. Again, the answer is not really. While the hammer may damage that area of silicone, it is still unlikely to tear further because the rest of the silicone is fully adhered to the roof. In addition, a dropped hammer will do damage to many different roofing systems, not just silicone.
Because dropped items can cause damage, we recommend strengthening the silicone around high traffic areas by embedding granules.
Conclusion
Silicone is flimsy, and it can be torn, but you have to be able to grab the silicone and twist it. You have to also start a slit in the material with a knife or something similar. If the silicone is installed properly on your roof, you shouldn’t have to worry about tears in your silicone roof.
