Years more roof.
No tear-off.
When a flat roof is sound but aging, a coating is the smartest money in roofing: silicone or acrylic applied over the existing membrane, sealing seams and reflecting the sun for a fraction of replacement cost. When your roof doesn't qualify, we say so before you spend anything.
What a coating actually does
- Seals seams and minor cracking in one membrane
- White surface reflects heat — cooler attic, kinder to the roof
- Silicone handles ponding water; acrylic where drainage is good
- Renewable: recoat down the road instead of replacing
The prep is the job: cleaning, seam repair, and fixing drainage before a drop of coating goes down. Quotes that skip prep are quoting a different, shorter-lived roof.
Questions we get
Coating vs. replacement — how do I know which my roof needs?
A coating extends a sound roof; it cannot save a failed one. If the membrane is intact, seams are tight and the deck is dry, a coating adds years for a fraction of replacement cost. If water is already in the assembly, coating over it seals the problem in. We check first and tell you straight.
Silicone, acrylic or elastomeric — what’s the difference?
Silicone is the ponding-water champion and the usual answer on San Diego flat roofs. Acrylic costs less and handles UV well but doesn’t love standing water. "Elastomeric" is the family name for flexible coatings, not a separate product. We published a full comparison.
What does a silicone roof coating cost?
A properly prepped silicone system runs a fraction of a tear-off replacement. Your quote spells out the prep work included — the part cheap quotes leave out and charge for later.
Can you coat asphalt shingles?
Generally no — shingle and coatings rarely mix well, and most shingle "coating" pitches are a way to charge for a roof that still needs replacing. We wrote up exactly why.
How long does a roof coating last?
A well-applied silicone system on a sound roof is typically a 10–20 year extension, and it can be recoated. The prep work — cleaning, seam repair, drainage — decides which end of that range you get.
Coatings, answered
Can you put a roof coating over asphalt shingles?
Products exist and manufacturers make them. It still does not fix what usually sends people looking, which is an aged surface.
Read the answer →Roof coating against replacement: which is right for your roof?
A coating costs roughly half a replacement and buys 10 to 20 more years. It only works on a roof that is still sound underneath.
Read the answer →Silicone, acrylic, elastomeric: what is the difference in a roof coating?
Elastomeric is the family. Silicone, acrylic and polyurethane are the members. The failure mode on your roof picks one for you.
Read the answer →How much does a silicone roof coating cost?
Published figures put silicone at $2 to $5 per square foot installed. Preparation, not the coating, is the line that moves the total.
Read the answer →Service areas
Find out if your roof qualifies
Call the roofer, or send the form and he’ll call you. Either way you talk to the person who does the work.
