WHY ARMOR ROOF COATINGS ARE THE BEST AND FAQs
Once you have made the decision on resurfacing your roof with a coating rather than an outright replacement, which can be very costly. The first question everyone has is what is the best coating for my roof and my situation?
There are many different types of coatings, varying in quality. Just like anything, you can buy a roof coating whose main feature is its low price or you can buy a quality product that is made to the highest standards using the best material ingredients available. How can you tell the difference, and how do you know which will last you up to 20 years versus 2-3 years? We'll answer those questions here and on our other roof coating pages. First, know that ArmorGarage Roof Coatings are at the top of the performance spectrum as far as longevity and leak-stopping ability are concerned.
If you are looking only for a temporary solution because of budget or you'll be out of the building for whatever reason in a short time frame then a low cost home improvement store product is probably best for you.
If on the other hand you are in the building for the long term you need to put something more durable on your roof. So what makes ArmorGarage Roof Coatings better than any other coating? First, it's not water-based! The first thing manufacturers do to lower the price of their coatings is to make them water-based. This goes for epoxy floor coatings as well as roof coatings. Up to 50% of the liquids you are buying can be water. These evaporate out during the drying process. This leaves you with a weak, thin film for a roof coating. That's why you see all these aluminum fibered coatings and other off-the-shelf products wear off rather quickly. They are water-based.
So if a coating is not water-based what else can it be made of? Well, it can be rubber-based, and again, as with anything, there are different types of rubber and varying quality of each type of rubber. We used Butyl rubber as opposed to EPDM rubber. Why? Because Butyl rubber outperforms EPDM liquids and actual EPDM rubber sheets. Plus, we use the highest quality Butyl we can buy. It makes all the difference in product longevity. Next is what percentage of the coating is rubber, the higher the percentage, the better. We used the highest percentage possible, plus we fortify our coatings with our epoxy polymers. This adds additional hardness to resist wearing.
Another ingredient used is silicone. Silicone is great for ponding water flat roofs. Silicone resists water degradation. But it is very soft and is easily damaged. This can be an issue if the roof is walked on or gets heavy rains or hail. Again that's why we fortify ours with epoxy polymers so that it can take a lot more wear and tear abuse.
If you don't think the hardness of a coating matters, see the following testimonial. This was from a customer who had a 100 year old historic house with an original roof. After investigating every roof coating there was he chose ArmorGarage Metal Roof Shield. Here's what he had to say:
"Jim, I need to know what a 5 gallon bucket of the coating costs plus freight. 4-7-13 was when Fort Scott was hit by a terrible hail storm. Your roof coating did amazingly well considering it was hit with golf ball sized hail and suffered only minor damage. It is estimated that over 80% of all roofs in Fort Scott were lost! My insurance company is reimbursing me for any costs involved with repairing the minor damage that occurred from the storm. Thanks in advance for the information, and thanks for having a great product! It really is everything you say it is and well worth the extra money. Had I gone with a cheaper coating recommended by my roofer I have no doubt I would have lost my irreplaceable historic roof. Take Care!!"
Need We Say More?
This not only applies to hail, heavy downpours are very abrasive and will simply wear away softer coatings in a lot shorter time than you would imagine. Same for intense sunlight and high humidity levels.
Some competitors offer outlandish warranties, but we can assure you that you will have a hard time collecting on the warranty since even walking on it can void the warranty because the coating is so fragile. Then other warranties are void unless applied by a licensed/authorized dealer. That is not the case with our coatings. We offer 12 & 15 year warranties and our coatings routinely go 15-20 years. Plus the most important fact is that you will never need to use your warranty with our product. We have as close to a zero failure rate as you can get! Our coating is easily recoatable with one new layer if and when needed unlike silicone products.
So it should be easy to see why some coatings are less expensive, if what you're buying is half water or made with low quality ingredients or worse such as unknown materials from China. Our roof coatings are made with 100% American made materials only! Buying any roof coating can be full of mysteries. If you read through our product pages we provide you extensive details so that you know what you're buying is without question the best.
In sum what this means and what it does for you is that if you have a building with high value assets inside or a high value tenant, it will provide you with the best new roof surface possible. It will keep your roof from leaking over and over again. You don't want to be redoing the job over and over again which will lead to some point where you will be forced to replace the whole roof at huge expense and down time. Applying layer upon layer of coatings to your roof leads to more problems than it solves! If you have to redo the roof even one time, any monies you saved with a cheaper coating just went out the window or should we say down the drain!
Our coatings will stretch out and back to their original shape more times than other roof coatings (500% elongation factor and 99.999% memory recovery), they have the best vapor transmission ratings, they're more UV resistant, we do ASTM 9000 hr extreme weather tests to prove it
(see image below), they handle wear and tear from heavy rains, foot traffic, snow, ice and hail better than any other coating cause we have better Shore D hardness ratings. Armor Roof coatings will stop your leaks the first time and for the life of the coating. That's the key difference, any coating can stop a leak when you first put it on, it's how long it keeps your roof leak free that counts! That's where many roof coatings fall short, they just don't have the ability to perform over the long term.
To compare specifications between ArmorGarage Roof Coatings and the competition see Roof Coating Comparison Chart.
See the FAQ section below for details about prep and application. If you don't see an answer there to your questions please contact us at info@armorgarage.com or 866-532-3979. We have sales reps that have installed hundreds of thousands of square feet of roof coatings over the years and they would be glad to help you with your project.
CLICK HERE For the Main Roof Coating Product Page.
ROOF COATING FAQs.
What is the coverage of ArmorGarage Roof Coaitngs?Coverage for our Tar & Rubber coating and our Metal Roof coating is 100 square feet per gallon and requires two coats. Our Ponding Water Roof Coating is applied at 50 square feet per gallon and requires only one coat. Our Shingle Roof Coating is applied at 1250 square feet per 5-gallon pail and requires two coats.
How are you coatings applied?
The most common way is with a roller. For larger roofs of 10,000 square feet or more you can use a commercial-grade sprayer such as a Graco Sprayer with 3000 psi @1 gpm capacity.
What kind of prep is required to apply your roof coatings?
First and foremost, all roofs should be cleaned to remove all dirt, mold, and mildew. Then all seams, flashings and in the case of metal roofs, all screwheads should be inspected. Here are some good images of a small flat roof prepped with our roof mastic prior to coating. Even though this is a small roof the concept and procedure is the same for any size roof.Since this was such a small roof the owner decided to prep the whole roof. On larger roofs this is only required on the flashings and seams that need it. For metal roofs patch any seams with roof mesh (available at any home improvement store) and the mastic. You can tab screw heads with the mastic if they're not stripped out. If stripped, you can replace them with oversized metal roof screws.
How do I know I'm applying it at the right thickness?
Here's an easy way to ensure the proper spread rate. For the Tar & Rubber coating and Metal Roof coating simply mark out 500 square foot squares or rectangles and place a pail inside each section. For Ponding Water coating you would mark out 250 square foot sections. Then apply that entire pail in that entire section. Here's a good example:
How quickly do the roof coatings ship out?
Small orders ship out in 1-2 business days, depending on order backlog. For large orders, please allow five business days plus standard trucking time from our East Coast facility to your location.
What is the manufacturing warranty?
ArmorGarage commercial roof coatings carry a 12-15 year warranty depending on the coating. We actually have the best warranties in the business. Why is that you might ask? It's because you'll never have to use it!
How do I know if I need the Ponding Water coating?
Low spots on flat roofs that hold water longer than 48 hours will leave soot and residues in those areas. Here's a good example of that.
If I only have a small area of Ponding water, do I have to use the ponding water coating over the entire roof?
No you don't. For small areas, simply clean them thoroughly and apply the standard coating over the entire roof. In the ponding area, do not coat it with the second coat of the standard coating. In that area, apply the ponding water coating and make sure to extend at least two feet beyond the perimeter of the standing water so that no standing water will be in contact with the standard roof coating.