National Coatings Blog

Case Study on an Aged BUR Roof

Harbor Freight

Size: 266,200 SF
Location: Camarillo, CA
Contractor: Cabral Roofing & Waterproofing
System: National Coatings AcryPly® Acrylic and Emulsion System

Challenge: Aged BUR Roof 20+ Years Old

• Large roof area with more than 50 documented leaks
• Occupied building
• Employees inside could not be disrupted during installation
• Crowded HVAC units in equipment well
• Hundreds of existing skylights of different sizes, many of which were the source of leaks

Solution: AcryPly® Acrylic and Emulsion System

• Fully reinforced system that stopped 100% of the leaks
• Occupants inside the building were unaffected by the installation
• AcryPly System does not require a roof tear-off, saving the building owner money
• Improved energy efficiency and lowered air temperature inside the building
• The AcryPly System was able to conform to the various size of each skylight to ensure a watertight roof

After numerous man hours spent chasing leaks and thousands of dollars on repairs, National Coatings delivered Harbor Freight with a long-term solution without a costly tear-off. The AcryPly Emulsion Restoration System is a watertight, seamless roof that is easily maintainable with energy savings, lower life-cycle costs, and a cooler work environment inside the building.

"After the National Coatings' Cool Roof was installed we definitely noticed a difference in building temperature. It's not a marginal difference, either. It is between 15-20 degrees cooler inside the warehouse and store." - Jerry Moore, Facilities Director at Harbor Freight Tools

Size: approximately 23,000 square feet
System: National Coatings AcryPly® Emulsion and Acrylic Roof Restoration System

The building at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, California contained a failing BUR substrate with extensive repair and failures around many of the seals. It was important to the school to restore the existing roof to a maintainable state without any major disruptions to the existing school in session. 

National Coatings installed the AcryPly Emulsion and Acrylic Roof Restoration System. This system allowed all existing roof deficiencies to be addressed by installing a layer of emulsion and polyester reinforcing fabric to essentially build a new, fully adhered, monolithic roof system over the top of the existing BUR roof. The AcryPly System provided Temple Emanuel Religious School with a non-disruptive roof containing high performance acrylic base and top coats with increased reflectivity in order to reduce their cooling costs.

The application process was successful, causing no disruption to the students inside the building and the owners were very pleased they could restore their existing roof, avoid a tear-off, save a lot of money, and gain a system that will perform for many years to come.