Roof Coating vs. Replacement: What’s The Practical Choice?

A roof coating vs. replacement, What’s the more practical choice in 2023?

It’s one of the most frustrating situations to find yourself needing an early roof replacement for your building. The unforeseen expense can send budgets flying out of control! Of course, this sort of project also creates interruptions that many businesses simply can’t afford.

What if you could skip all this hassle?

In the following post, Roofer’s Guild discusses the enormous savings potential of commercial roof coatings. The restoration process offers a more convenient way to handle long-term degradation and extend the life of your current system.

If your business is facing commercial roof replacement soon, be sure to read through the post.

Helpful Tips for Building Owners

• A coating (i.e., roof restoration) is generally much cheaper than a complete replacement.
• Coatings provide a lucrative means of saving electricity in your building.
• The added protection also extends the life of your roof and reduces maintenance requirements.

What are Commercial Roof Coatings?

While relatively new to the industry, commercial roof coatings have slowly become a favorite solution among businesses throughout the United States. Available in both brush-applied and sprayed forms, they cover the rooftop’s surface to create a seamless layer of protection against the elements.

Rooftop coatings were designed to address a rising tide of premature roof failures, especially among flat systems. While they had a rocky start with mixed results, commercial roof coatings matured and became a dependable solution.

Now thousands of business owners and building managers depend on these restorative coatings to preserve their rooftops.

Why Choose a Roof Coating?

Let’s say a building relies on a fairly dependable but aging TPO rooftop. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light, wind, and ponding water leaves the membrane cracked and scarred. You know what happens next! Leaks slowly develop in the seams and damaged areas, and moisture seeps into the building below. The building owner and/or manager face a serious dilemma:

Should the roof be repaired or replaced?

Repairs cost less but generally leave the building vulnerable to problems a few years later. Then again, an early replacement is an even less attractive option. Who wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars to replace a roof long before its projected end of life? This leads us to a middle-ground solution that takes a more aggressive path than repairs but costs far less than replacement.

Benefits of Roof Coatings

One of the most underrated benefits of coatings is their rejuvenating properties for your roofing system. The fluid carefully slips into cracks and marred areas of the rooftop surface, sealing them against further moisture invasion.

While there are limits to the number of damage coatings can mend, they do a fantastic job of fixing minor degradation on the rooftop! You don’t have to wait until long-term damage puts your roof on the brink. A solid, seamless coating also benefits newer rooftops.

Coatings and Energy Efficiency

Cool roofing refers to any roofing system or solution that reduces the surface temperature of a building’s rooftop, preventing heat gain during peak sunlight hours. By incorporating highly reflective commercial roof coatings, business owners can transform a heat-sponging flat roof solution (such as EPDM) into a highly energy-efficient system. What does that mean for companies in the real world?

A cool roof coating saves hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in air conditioning costs each year. 

Whether you depend on a black-top roof or a fading lighter color, commercial roof coatings offer a fantastic defense against preventable heat gain. For those looking to reap the maximum energy benefits from the restoration process, both polyurethane and urethane-modified acrylics offer impressive benefits for your roof’s solar reflectance rating!

Chemical Resistance for Your Rooftop

Corrosion claims countless rooftops every year. Rainwater naturally causes rust in some metal systems, gradually eating away at their lifespan. Not only does the right coating cover this unsightly corrosion, but it also protects the rooftop from further decay. Industry specialists almost always recommend protective coatings for new commercial metal roofs. 

Not every chemical threat comes from a natural source. Industrial companies sometimes vent byproducts harmful to their roofing system. Many turn to flexible, elastomeric coatings to shield their expansive rooftops from the synthetic corrosion and warping that would otherwise damage each system.

As an added bonus, some commercial roof coatings (such as polyurethane) provide additional protection against mechanical trauma from foot traffic and scraping hardware.

Find Your Commercial Coating Expert

Whether you choose coating or replacement, hiring the best roofing contractor is critical. Take your time finding the best roofing company in your area, especially one specializing in commercial roof coatings.

Check their reviews on Google Business Profile, Yelp, and other trusted reputation platforms. Furthermore, check out their company website for any images from previous commercial roof coatings.