National Coatings Blog

There are several brands of roof coatings on the market and many of these brands have multiple asphalt roof coatings to choose from - How do you know which one to pick? There are several factors to consider: How long has the coating manufacturer’s product successfully been on the market? Can they provide you with credentials and ratings for their products from established roofing organizations? Compare the ingredients listed in the coating you are choosing against other roof coatings.

Let’s dive in and take the first factor into consideration – How long has the coating manufacturer’s product successfully been on the market? Track record is very important. Poor performing products do not last long in any industry; therefore, it’s good to find out how many years the product has successfully worked for others. The AcryShield A400 is an excellent example of an asphalt roof coating that has proven itself over and over again, to hundreds of clients.  AcryShield A400 a top coat with unique asphalt bleed blocking properties, making it particularly suited for a top coat over asphalt, was first introduced to the roofing industry in 1985. This product has been successfully applied over hundreds of millions of square feet of low slope roofs for the past 28 years. It is beneficial to hear from clients who have had first hand experience with the roofing product to know they were satisfied. That is why we provide our customers with a wide range of case histories. If you would like to check out asphalt roof membrane specific case histories, click on these clients - Apple, Google, Kaiser and Harbor Freight Tools.

Credentials and ratings are extremely important when comparing products because they deliver unbiased information while using identical tests to provide accurate results. There are several organizations in the roofing industry that set rigorous standards such as ASTM, AIA, FM, ICC-ES, UL, Energy Star, CRRC, Miami-Dade County, and LEED. The AcryShield product line has numerous products that meet all of these standards (see our credential and ratings page for complete product information). AcryShield A500 first introduced to the market in 1981 – over 32 years ago - meets all of these standards and is an excellent high performance asphalt roof coating that provides longevity and brightness with superior dirt pick-up resistance and protection against biological attack such as algae and mold. A500 was developed specifically for areas where extra levels of low temperature flexibility is required. This product also offers exceptional tensile strength, elongation, and wet adhesion.

Lastly, we want to discuss the importance of the amounts of ingredients used in the asphalt roof coating. We have conducted several tests in our laboratory that compare our products versus our competitions. National Coatings offers premium roof coating products with high levels of ingredients to provide our customers with only the finest and best roof coating products available. We never eliminate or cut down on adding ingredients to our products in order to cut costs. After over 500 hours of exposure in the QUV accelerated weathering apparatus, we found that several of our competitors do just that – they cut costs and performance by eliminating or not adding nearly as much UV blocking pigments into their coatings. They substitute these pigments with cheap “filler” pigments resulting in a shorter life span of the product. UV blocking pigments are the protection the coating provides to the underlying roofing membrane. Without having excellent UV protection, your roof fails sooner, leaking faster and resulting in the need to repair, recoat or replace your roof much earlier than if you had chosen a durable, highly reflective coating with proper amounts of UV blocking pigments.  For more information regarding our test, download our article “There is NO “Or Equal”! Guide.

As you can see, it is important to know the ingredient content of the product you choose as it can adversely affect your roof. It is also great to do a little research and make sure the product has passed standards and tests set by the roofing industry. Lastly, remember the longer the history of success, the greater likelihood you will be satisfied with your choice.

“Global Model Confirms: Cool Roofs Can Offset Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Mitigate Global Warming” was the News Release from the Berkeley Laboratories in July 19, 2010. There were more studies written up proving the same effect of cool roofs not only for the building owners and occupants but GLOBALLY.

What it was referring to is the “white” reflective roof membranes that are widely replacing the dark colored roofings of the past.  What could possibly be the importance and effect of “white and reflective” coatings on roofs nowadays?

A dark colored roof absorbs so much heat that flows not only into the space below it but also back into the atmosphere thereby causing an urban warming or heat island effect. On the other hand, a white roof reflects sun’s rays and thereby absorbs much less heat, requires less energy from air conditioning thereby getting its name “COOL” roof.  A cool roof is “a gift that keeps on giving for many, many years, for the life of the roof” as expressed by the researcher Hashem Akbari of The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory whose work was also supported by the California Energy Commission (CEC). 

National Coatings Corporation’s AcryShield Roof Maintenance (ARM), AcryPly Roof Restoration and AcryShield SPF Roofing Systems are excellent reflective roofing systems in that they have superior watertight capabilities and they are renewable indefinitely. Choosing any of those systems would allow you to avoid a costly and time consuming roof tear-off forever.

Lowered Air Conditioning and Cooling Costs

AcryShield coatings can save you as much as 20% or more in cooling costs. A reflective roof membrane has the capability to reflect the sun’s UV and infrared rays away from the building, allowing the roof temperature to increase only by 12^oF which is much lower than the 78^oF increase from the traditional black roof. With a lower temperature increase of the cooler roof is a reduced heat transferred to the insides of the building. This relates to a significant reduction in electrical energy demand for air conditioning. It also relates to the increased comfort of anyone in 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.” This is the testimonial of Jerry Moore, Facilities Director at Harbor Freight Tools. Harbor Freight Tools had an AcryPly Roof Restoration System installed on their aging and severely leaking roof at their corporate headquarters. He was very impressed and pleased with the new system.

Reduced Roof Maintenance

A high performance reflective roof membrane has high quality UV blocking ingredients in order to protect your roof from the leading causes of roof degradation - sun damage from UV and Infrared rays. Not only does the high reflectivity lower air temperature inside the building but also by reflecting a majority of the damaging UV rays away from the surface of the roof, the roof is protected from cracking, splitting, weathering and ultimately from leaking. National Coatings has several highly reflective roof coatings that can be applied over almost any roofing substrate. Click here to learn more about the AcryShield product line, which was engineered to lower air conditioning energy costs, and reduce roof degradation while prolonging the life of the roof it is applied to.

Prolong the Lifespan of your Roof

AcrySheild reflective roof membranes not only lower the roof life cycle costs by making the roof last longer but also extend the tear-off date indefinitely. Our AcryPly Roof Restoration System is unlike a traditional roof in that it is a spray applied, monolithic, coating system that can be applied directly over your leaking and aging roof. This system costs up to 50-70% less money than replacing your roof. With it is an added value of being able to re-coat your roof every 10 or so years, giving you a new, watertight, reflective roof membrane with half the cost and time a tear-off would take.

Most people do not realize their roof is salvageable. 9 times out of 10, you can restore your existing roof. Call National Coatings for a roof inspection and find out how you can benefit from a reflective roof membrane – 800-423-9557 

Benefits of Roof Coating Membranes vs 
Single-Plies/Installing a Second Roof to Your Existing Roof

Building codes usually allow you to add a second roof to your building if the first roof is failing. Anything after the second roof, you typically need to choose between a roof tear-off/new installation or a roof coating membrane system. A roof coating membrane system is the superior choice for several reasons over a tear-off/new roof but what if your building currently has only one roof, what is the better option, apply a new single-ply membrane to the existing roof or apply a roof coating membrane system to the existing roof? The answer once again is apply a roof coating membrane system. Let us explain.

Roof coating membranes are typically spray applied. This allows them to create a monolithic and seamless membrane which is custom tailored to fit your roofs exact needs. If your roof needs additional slope to eliminate drainage issues, roof coating membrane systems (particularly the AcryShield SPF Roofing System) allow you to build in that slope to redirect the water towards a drain. If your roof experiences a lot of ponded water issues, AcryShield coatings are ideal because they are formulated for resistance to ponded water and protection against biological attach, such as algae and mold. If your roof has skylights, pipes, or equipment on the roof (as most do), roof coatings are sprayed directly on the areas where those items meet the roof, creating a seamless, watertight seal in those areas. 

Single-Plies are not spray applied; therefore, they cannot be custom installed and tailored to meet the particular issues each individual roof has. Single-plies are prefabricated sheets of material that are brought up on the roof and cut and trimmed to fit the size and shape of the roof. It cannot bend, mold and form fit like a liquid coating is able to. A single-ply can not wrap itself around items on a roof like the coating can - it needs to be cut, shaped and placed on the pipe or foot of equipment and then seam-welded, nailed or drilled. Then it needs to be filled/puttied with a sealer so leaks do not occur. The sealant does not have the same adhesion capabilities to the single-ply as a coating has to itself. This makes the single-ply more likely to tear away from the sealant and leak in the future. 

A coating is similar to a paint in that when it is sprayed, it fills small cracks and voids in the roof to create a solid, smooth surface. The coating then dries and hardens together to become a monolithic membrane. Our coatings contain high solids and premium ingredients making them high performing and flexible so they can move with the expansion and contraction of the roof. 

Single-Plies may be installed to the roof deck or substrate using mechanical fasteners, seam welding, adhesives and nailing. They are not 100% adhered to the existing roof membrane like a coating is because they are basically placed on top of the roof membrane or deck and fastened to it. They do not have the ability to be as watertight as a coating system does because they do not fill all the cracks and voids. Single-Plies have the ability to stretch a little but often times become brittle and crack over time due to plasticizer migration. This causes the single-ply to become less flexible leading to potential leaks when the roof experiences movement.  

The important differences of a liquid applied system (roof coating membrane) versus a prefabricated system (single-plies) lead us to believe there is no better choice when faced with restoring your roof other than a roof coating membrane system. The ability to custom install your roof to fit your buildings' exact needs are unparalleled. If you are looking for a watertight solution with excellent adhesion to your existing roof membrane, choose from one our AcryShield Roof Managment Systems (ARM), AcryShield SPF Roofing Systems, or AcryPly Roofing Systems.