what roof coatings

[mrbb]

Ok I have an older mobile home, with a flat rolled metal type roof
its 60ft long 12.5 ft wide, and was made in the early 60's
I am starting to have some issues with the edges, were the roof meets the sides, starting to peel.
I was wondering if anyone has had experience with roof coatings, and what ones work the best on flat type roofs
and also my roof flex's and moves a bunch with the wind
I have been applying the aluminum 5 gal bucket coating from Lowes, but was wondering if there are better one, that can maybe help fill in some small cracks about the edges before they turn into leaks
as of right now, i have no leaks but these cracks will not get better on there own

what coatings should i look at?
thanks

[JD]

You might check the bucket of the aluminum product to see if it is asphalt based. Most white elastomerics do not like asphalt products. If it is all real old and dried out (not gassing), you could get by with some products that will perform better than the Alumaseal type stuff.

Keeping the edges from leaking is more about prep and application than product. All products should work, just some last longer than others.

With prep, if you have a lot of layers of old product, it would probably be best to leave it on the roof. Any loose or peeling coatings should be removed. Use lead safe renovation practices.

If the material is sound and stuck real good, just clean it first, then use a trowelable caulk to fill cracks, gaps and rough spots. You want a smooth surface. I recommend Ames Research Blue Max Trowel Grade. Like any caulk product, you may need a second coat if it shrinks when it dries.

You mentioned flat roof and this is an important issue. Flat roofs tend to pond water (puddles that last a couple of days after is stops raining) If this is a broken or weak truss issue, then it is best to repair it. But that is not usually in the plan. I would use a Primer elastomeric coating and then a white top coating. Other than Liquid Rubber Elastomeric Roofing, I don't know of a white elastomeric (top coat) that can stand up to ponding. I would use 2-3 coats of Ames Super Elasto-Barrier, with the seam tape between layer one and two, as the base coating. This product will stand up to ponding water.

For the top coat, I would use at least 2 coats of Ames Maximum-Stretch, a premium white elastomeric. The white top coat is necessary to protect the base coat from UV rays.

The nice part about using the products above is that they are all made to work together without being ingredient phobic or fight each other during expansion and contraction.

I know a lot of people will do a one or two coat thing and call it good, but I find this type of recoat does not last very long. Using a process like mentioned above, you could have a 10 to 15 year roof, depending on your weathering conditions.

If your existing coating is asphalt and is questionable as to weather it is dried out enough, you could use the Ames Super Primer first before the Elasto-barrier. If your asphalt based product is still kind of fresh, I would not use an elastomeric, but continue with the same product you are using or remove it.

This may be more work and product than you were expecting, but to me it is a minimal recoat job. This is the way to make it last and coatings 2 through up to 6 get easier and faster as you go.

Here is a link to the Ames Research web site. Look through their media library and articles. More videos and articles than any product I know of, and the information would apply to any elastomeric product.

http://www.amesresearch.com/