CONSIDERING INSTALLING A SILICONE ROOFING SYSTEM?
Our silicone can be installed over your existing roof system, but you may still have more questions:
You’ve come to the right place.
Below, we will look at the uses of silicone coatings, the installation process, the benefits provided by silicone coatings, the history, and science of silicone coatings.
Now, there are many different types of roof coatings on the market, including acrylic, aluminum, and others. We will only be looking at silicone coatings in this post as we feel they are superior to all others coatings available. If you take a dollar-for-dollar comparison of silicone against any other roof coating, we believe silicone will come out on top every time.
We have also written in the past about the advantages and disadvantages of spray-applied coatings in general if you’d like to learn more about the product industry as a whole.
Uses of Silicone Roof Coatings
Silicone coating can be installed on many different substrates in many different applications. We will look in more detail at the substrates they can be applied to later, but first let’s examine the two main uses of silicone roof coatings.
1 – Roof Restoration. This method is typically performed using High Solids Silicone Coating. We call our restoration system the Roof Coating Restoration, or RCR, System. We’ll look into more detail under the installation section, but basically this process consists of spray or roll applying the silicone coating directly to the existing roof surface. This system is designed to repair the roof if there are leaks, rust, or other imperfections, and also to extend the life of the roof by better protecting it from the elements.
2 – Spray Foam Recoat. This method typically utilizes Low Solids Silicone Coatings because they can better penetrate the dimples in the foam and use less coating. Foam must be protected from the sun in order to perform as designed, and a common way to protect it is through the use of silicone coatings. The coating is applied at installation and then every 10-20 years thereafter. This is the other major use for silicone coatings, coating and recoating foam roofs.
We examine each of the uses of silicone roof coatings in greater detail here if you’d like to learn more about the major uses of this material.
Silicone Coatings Installation
Perhaps the greatest advantage of any spray-applied roof coating, but especially silicone roof coatings, is the ease of application. From the time you decide to install a silicone coating to the completion of the project, you are looking at around a week for delivery, a single power-washing of the roof, a 1-2 day install of the coating depending on the roof size, and 24 hours of cure time. After those 24 hours, your roofing project is done and you essentially have a brand new roof.
There are more details regarding installation of silicone roof coatings, but what is described above is the gist of it. You can read more about the installation process for both the Roof Coating Restoration and the Spray Foam Recoat processes here.
Benefits of Silicone Roof Coatings
Silicone Roof Coatings are perhaps the greatest roof improvement you can make with today’s technology. The benefits realized from silicone roof coatings coupled with the relatively low price tag and ease of installation mean you get a top of the line roofing system with minimal headache and minimal investment. Who wouldn’t want a great deal like that?
Among the benefits of silicone roof coatings are significantly lower installation costs than nearly all other systems, silicone roof coatings withstand ponding water, high reflectivity saves you money on energy bills, reduces urban heat island effect, silicone roof coatings often carry up to a 15 year warranty, can be recoated at end of life and extend life 10-15 more years, and the system can be applied within a few weeks time depending on the scope of the project.
Our project profiles outline the benefits and versatility of silicone roof coatings in more detail.
Silicone Roof Coatings History
Silicones in general are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. Silicone Roof Coatings are mixed inorganic polymers which is what gives them their UV resistance. In the late 1960’s silicone coatings began being used on roofs as new technologies emerged, such as sprayed polyurethane foam. With the influx of new foam roofs that needed protection from the sun, silicone roof coatings, and their high UV resistance, were a perfect fit for roofing applications.
Once silicone roof coatings were developed and first applied, they only grew in popularity as they outperformed all other existing coatings. There was no turning back from that point. Silicone coatings have since been improved upon in their chemical formulation, and application methods.
Science of Silicone Roof Coatings
Silicone has been scientifically formulated to be stronger, resist water better, reflect the sun better, adhere to the roofing surface better, and be more easily installed than other coatings.
There are many advantages of silicone roof coatings that result from its superior scientific formulation, but this stuff can get pretty technical. If you’d like to dive a little bit deeper into the science behind these coatings, head on over to this post and you can learn more about it.
Conclusion
We have looked at five different aspects of silicone roof coatings in this article. While there are no doubt many other aspects of these coatings that you may want to learn about, these are the most significant when making a decision of whether or not to use a silicone roof coating on your roof. Would you like to learn more about these coatings? Check out our other blog posts or subscribe to our newsletter on the right where you can get updates delivered to your inbox each month.
