The cheapest roof
is the one you
do not replace.

No, and that is the most important sentence on this page. A coating needs a substrate that is sound, dry, compatible and properly drained. If the insulation below is wet, if water ponds because of the slope, if the seams are failing across the field, or if there are already several coatings on the roof, the honest recommendation is repair or replacement. We would rather tell you that than take the work.

No. Coating seals surface-level deterioration and small defects across the field. It will not fix a failed flashing, a split penetration collar, a leaking curb or water tracking in from a wall above — those are repairs, and they happen before any coating goes on.

Repairs first, drains cleared, then washed down and left to dry fully, and primed where the substrate requires it. Preparation is the majority of the labour and it is where a cheap quote saves its money. Nothing bonds to a dirty, chalking or damp surface.

Twice a year, and after any major storm. On a commercial roof with plant on it, more often — foot traffic and equipment maintenance cause a surprising share of the damage we find.

When the substrate is wet, when the membrane has reached the end of its life across the whole roof, when repeated coatings have built up, or when the drainage cannot be corrected any other way. Spending on a coating in those cases buys a season and loses the money.

That depends entirely on the product, the substrate, the preparation and the exposure — and manufacturers publish their own warranty terms for their own systems. We will give you the documentation for the product actually used rather than quote a number that suits us.

A reflective surface reduces the heat load on the roof, and on a low-slope roof in this climate that is a genuine benefit. How much it shows on your bill depends on insulation, plant and how the building is used, so we do not put a percentage on it.

It varies by municipality and by what else is being done. Maintenance and cleaning generally do not; recover and replacement generally do. We check for your address and handle submission where it applies.

Different products exist for different substrates, and the compatibility question is the whole answer. Tile and metal roofs more often need targeted repair — valleys, fasteners, underlayment at the eaves — than a field coating.

You get told, with photographs, and with the options ranked by cost and by how long each one buys you. Sometimes the right answer is a repair now and a replacement budgeted for in two years, and that is a legitimate plan.

It is the highest-return money on this page. Clearing drains and checking details twice a year costs a fraction of the repair it prevents, and it moves the replacement date further out than any product decision does.