Flat Roof Repair & Coating
| 3) Etch with TSP type cleaner TSP type cleaner is similar to lye soap. Its more aggressive than what a consumer would use, but is great for preparing surfaces which are going to be re-coated. |
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| 4) Neutralize and rinse After the TSP type cleaner has done its job and cleaned out the pores of the old material it is neutralized and rinsed. |
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| 5) Scrape loose and flaking material Its common to have areas of the roof which are flaking off. The loose material gets scraped off prior to patching. |
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| 6) Screw in loose screws, pound in floating nails Over time nails and screws used to install a roof will work out. We pound these down or screw them in prior to putting a patch over them. |
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| 7) Apply anti-ponding material to scuppers Scuppers (generically known as roof drains) will frequently hold some water. When the water doesn't drain off as it's supposed to this is called "ponding", which is bad. We will apply small amounts of anti-ponding material to the scupper areas as required to help with the drainage. There is much more to this topic further on. If you are told you have ponding issues please read the other part of this web site. |
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| 8) Put plastic or paper over skylights Plastic and paper are used to cover skylights as well as anything else that's not supposed to get the cool coating applied to it. |
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| 9) Prime as required Some spots on the roof will need to be primed before they can be coated. We'll take care of this for you. |
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| 10) Spot emulsify as required Today's cool coatings are water based. Many roofs were made or patched with oil or tar based products. Oil and water based products are generally incompatible unless an emulsifier is used between them. The emulsifier causes the oil to chemically change into a more inert substance. The water based material can then stick to it as it's supposed to. Take a look at the photos of what happens when emulsifier is not used where required. |
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| 11) Place sealer over holes For the small and average size patches we use fiber mesh. For the larger patches we will actually replace part of the roof itself. The particular patch or sealer material we use will be dependant on what your roof is made of. |
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12) Position mesh over tears and fasten |
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| 13) Coat with Elastek Extreme Roof Coating Elastek Extreme is expensive, even for contractors. It hurts to pay for it but when its raining and blowing and the roof is not leaking its worth the money. One particular box store brand is at the opposite end of the quality spectrum. Its half the price and works 1/5 as well. Since my Masters Degree specialty was plastics, I've dug deeper into the how's and whys of roof coating materials. More info. DON'T SKIMP ON THE COATING QUALITY. |
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| 14) Remove plastic / paper on skylights and lenses |
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Link to next page: Steps 15 - 16
