What is a Substrate?
One of the most common terms in the roofing industry is “substrate.” Most veteran roofers could give a dissertation on what a substrate is, but to those new to the industry, you may have found yourself wondering, “What is a substrate?” To put it simply, a substrate is the surface upon which you apply a new roofing system or coating. In this blog series, we will identify several substrates that PM Silicone can restore and walk you through the process for each.
The Different Types of Substrates
Roofing substrates run the gamut from metal roofs to EPDM to spray foam and more. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Over the coming weeks we will look at the following substrates and identify how PM Silicone can help with each:
- EPDM, commonly known as a rubber roof, stands for ethylene propylene diene monomer. It is a synthetic rubber roofing membrane that is often glued down onto the roof decking.
- TPO, short for thermoplastic polyolefin, is a single-ply roofing membrane that’s heat-welded. It has similar characteristics to silicone, but some disadvantages that we will identify in this blog series.
- Concrete is exactly what it sounds like: a solid slab of concrete capping the top of your house or business. It’s that simple!
- Spray foam has three distinct parts – spray polyurethane foam, a protective top coat, and granules. Silicone often acts as the protective top coat since spray foam is not UV resistant on its own.
- Modified bitumen is asphalt-based and consists of multiple protection layers. This is a very sturdy roofing material but can get very hot and break down in the sun.
- Metal is a roofing system made from metal pieces or tiles. Zinc, copper, and steel alloys are commonly used. Silicone adheres very well to metal roofs and you don’t need much to get great protection.
- BUR, or built-up roofing, starts with layered fabric roofing panels applied and sealed with an industrial adhesive such as asphalt. That is placed on top of the flat roofing structure and covered in aggregate material (commonly gravel). We will look at our surface-leveling silicone during this substrates standalone blog.
- Acrylic is a water-based product that’s applied to the roof. It is similar to silicone but has many factors that makes it not as durable.
Help is Available
Rather than trying to detail each substrate in one blog post, we will offer a series of posts in coming weeks detailing these different substrates and how PM Silicone can help when they start showing signs of wear and tear.
Stay tuned for those posts and check out our other recent blog posts here: https://bit.ly/3s3JimI.
Thanks for reading.