After roof coating and cleaning applications Roofer Mike shares the transformation of a roof in Miami Springs. The improvement in appearance is startling - when viewed from space! This maintenance project got a little personal – it’s his house.
I’ve posted roof coating articles here on Blogger, Roofing Miami Style, Facebook – everywhere – and I wanted to do something different. When we recently picked out our new house I looked at it in aerial view on Google. It was dirty - a tile roof over the original house with a flat roof over the carport and another low slope roof over the master suite addition in the back. The tile roof was moderately dirty but both flat roofs appeared to be black from algae stains. Determined to practice what I preach, I set out to remedy the situation over the winter months before we got busy. Winter is best for roof coatings in the Miami area as it is also the dry season.
Good News: GAF Ruberoid
Both roofs were non-insulated Ruberoid systems but that’s where the similarities end. The carport and porch had an old fiberglass BUR with a Ruberoid Torch Smooth roof-over. Whoever torched it had done a good job but the aluminum roof coating they applied was almost completely gone. What appeared to be badly stained from space was really a bare modified roof. The good news was it was in fair enough condition to support a roof coating.
The addition in back was a white Ruberoid Mop Granule system, probably with two fiberglass ply-sheets mopped underneath – a good residential flat roof. By the amount of algae stains and condition of the modified cap I guessed it at about ten years old which is also good enough for an elastomeric coating.
Roof Maintenance 101
Now, to see what I have leftover in the way of roof coatings. I had almost a full 5 gal bucket of Sealoflex Pink, a bucket of Sealoflex Finish and a bucket of Somay. Great! Sealoflex is an excellent 3-coat elastomeric so I decided that was good for the addition. Somay is a quality acrylic roof coating and was fine for the porch and carport. With what was lying around I only needed to buy a few buckets more!
I pressure-washed both flat roofs and, while I was at it, cleaned the clay tile roof and sprayed it with Simix. Now I really get to see how long it lasts firsthand! Then a coat of Sealoflex Pink and two coats of Sealoflex Finish on the addition and two coats of Somay Mastic on the carport . . . voila!!
The “before” photo was produced from a Google satellite shot with a Snipping Tool. I “sat” on the photo and this article until the satellite updated. The “after” shot cost me $18 from my good friends at Eagle View Technologies. You roofers should check them out.
