Built Up Roof Repair

A built up roof coating can extend the life of your roof by 10 or more years.

Asphalt degradation is a growing concern. UV-rays oxidize the surface of the asphalt built up roof and produces a chalk-like residue. As plasticizers leach out of the asphalt, the asphalt built up roof becomes brittle. Cracking and alligatoring inevitably follows, allowing water to penetrate the system causing blisters, cracks and leaks.

Why Consider a Built Up Roof Coating Application?

A black built up roof absorbs a lot of the sun’s heat in the summer. High temperatures and UV-rays accelerate asphalt degradation. To make matters worse, the heat build up raises plenum temperatures thereby increasing cooling costs in the building.

BEFORE: This built up roof is badly weathered and leaking in several locations. To save money and prevent downtime, the owner decided to use an elastomeric roof coating system to restore the roof.

Built Up Roof Restoration Process

• Cleaning and Surface Preparation – The entire built up roof was thoroughly washed using a 3,000 psi pressure washer. A biodegradeable degreaser was used to ensure a clean surface. All seams, flashings and penetrations were carefully sealed to render the roof watertight.
• Priming – Priming ensures a good adhesion between the built up roof surface and the elastomeric coating.
• Top Coating – 30 dry mils of elastomeric roof coating is applied on the entire built up roof in 2 coats.

AFTER: A leak-free, seamless roofing membrane now covers the old, weathered built up roof. The cool roof coating reflects about 90% of the heat from the sun. The roof-top airconditioining units also operate more efficiently since the temperature intake air around the units have been noticeably reduced.

All these benefits for about half the cost of replacement. What more can you ask for?

Don’t Put It Off Any Longer.
Get a FREE Roofing Estimate today!

Types of Built Up Roofing

• Built-Up Asphalt Roofing
• Ballasted Built-Up Roofing
• Cold Applied Built-Up Roofing
• Built-Up Coal Tar Roofing
• Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Asphalt Emulsion Roofing

Roof Restoration Tools

Pressure Washer

A pressure washer is mandatory for preparing a roof’s surface for coating application. Pressure washing removes embedded dirt, chalking and poorly adhered material. In most cases, 2000 PSI can adequately clean the surface without damaging adhered roofing laps, masonry or flashings. Higher pressure ratings can speed up cleaning provided that a wider nozzle is used to prevent damage to the existing substrate.

Clear-rinsing detergents may be used to improve cleaning. Be aware of any local restrictions regarding how the wash-off water must be treated or released into storm sewers or swales.

Airless Sprayer

An airless sprayer pump capable of developing 1,800 to 2,500 PSI material output pressure should be sufficient to spray a variety of acrylic coatings. A siphon hose on the material inlet typically is used to draw material directly from 5-gallon pails or 55-gallon barrels.

A spray gun with an extender wand allows for comfortable coating application without having to hold the spray gun uncomfortably close to the surface. A 517 tip is usually recommended for roof primers and 631 for elastomeric coatings. Tips are reversible for easy cleaning and clearing of occasional tip clogs.

Proper spray technique involves keeping a gun level with a roof’s surface at all times, maintaining a consistent distance between the spray tip and surface. Use a overlapping, crosshatch pattern to ensure complete coverage and a uniform finish.