Silicone Coating Roof Question

In the process of getting some estimates/recommendations to address multiple roofing issues in the most cost-efficient way possible. One company wants to silicone coat everything. This includes a couple torch down roofs and an epdm roof. Torch downs are about 9 years old, leaking in a couple places. Epdm roof was a sloppy install done 7 months ago, leaks at the wall termination. About 1600sqft of roofing total.

Is this really what some people do? Even over epdm? Does stuff like that pass inspection?

Did the 7 month old Sloppy EPDM pass inspection?

Nowadays EPDM is a simple commodity item.

Who is expected to inspect it?

I do completion inspections on them regularly.

The prevalence varies based on the state but there are many companies who say they are roofers and it is really a coater. They have a spray rig and every problem has the same solution.

Coating are not roofs and not usually included in building inspections or permitting depending on the state as well. Also if your state requires contractors license for roofers the coating company can circumvent the requirement because they are not actually selling you a roof.

In general coating have their place in roofing but I rarely see them used correctly. A properly done coating is a way of extending the life of a roof while it is still in decent shape. A coating is only as good as what you put it on.

I would also never put silicone over torch down, there are much better options made specifically for asphalt roofs.

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Never cared for silicone unless it’s a temp repair. Been doing quite a few repairs on silicone coating over mod-bit this year. The permeability of the roof being coated needs to be matched with the coating. BUR and Mod-Bit seem to transfer moisture to the silicone and cause bubbles/blisters. Seems the real problem with roofing these days is sales. Few salesmen understand the different systems and really DGAF, they just want a sale. I find the ignorance frustrating, but it keeps me swamped with work. I have a hydraulic spray rig, but that’s not all I do.

Hah. It probably would not. Haven’t had it inspected since we bought it

I did watch quite a few silicone coating videos and applications (I’m basically an expert now) and it does look like it’s good in certain scenarios. Not sure whether it fits our needs. We had a couple roofers try to sell us $20k roof replacements and a couple try to sell us silicone coatings for a good bit less.

For reference, here is a google share with pictures of the epdm and torch down roofs we’re trying to address. There’s also a shot of the estimate for the silicone roof coatings.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1sZXR65Zitkq9apsTynppkm2jYuf5-tfoa

Sorry, bad link

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1sZXR65Zitkq9apsTynppkm2jYuf5-tfo

No wet or dry mil specs. 1 Year? C’mon man! You need to get repair quotes on the existing roofs. Silicone is like herpes, once you got it… Can you sue on the current work? Must be feeding that Bulldog prime rib at$780.00 a SQ!

Lol yeah, wasn’t too thrilled with the lack of details and specifics. In the videos I watched they specified doing multiple passes with different mils, not to mention they properly prepped and repaired cracks/bad roofing beforehand, which this quote makes no mention of. Should at least tape bad seams and such right? Fill in any roofing dips, etc?

The spec prep doesn’t justify the end product. You need to find a good roofer to do repairs, and maybe coat the modified. Just say no to silicone. The moisture in the modified will divorce a low perm coating. I just bid 140,000sf with Lucas # 637 @ 1.5 GPS. You’ll have to use an elastomeric asphalt and NOT a straight asphalt. MB is a polymer , so it will divorce straight asphalt. I don’t like the emulsions at all. Once the oils wash out you have clay and wood fiber…A hell of a roof!

Thanks for the feedback. We’re a little overwhelmed with the multiple leaks from multiple roofs and the cost of the estimates we’ve received to fully replace them. Still weighing repairs vs replacements, whether to fully replace the epdm roof we just had installed 7 months ago, or just repair and maybe replace the other leaking roof. Not a big fan of bandaid solutions, and that’s all the silicone guy’s proposal seemed to be.

Thanks, I’ll look into that. We have a couple roofers coming out to give us some repair recommendations. I’d much prefer someone repair them properly and then do a coating to extend the lifespan, rather than just throw a coating on a bad roof.

A real roofer would have pointed out why it was leaking and offered a price to fix it.
Not coat the whole roof with silicone.
That wont fix it.

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Could not agree more with the following blog comment. “In general coating have their place in roofing but I rarely see them used correctly. A properly done coating is a way of extending the life of a roof while it is still in decent shape. A coating is only as good as what you put it on.” Roofers in my area have used Butyl Liquid Rubber on epdm roofs with much success. It is a solvent based product applied without needing a primer. Once cured it will form a seamless membrane.

The problems tend to come from unvented roofs. What are the prep specs? GPS / dry mil of the completed coating?