Most adobe homes have "flat" roofs. This type of roof system  requires the most maintenance and is the most likely to leak.  Applying a premium elastomeric roof coating in regular intervals on these roofs is one of the best maintenance programs available.  Though applying roof coatings is one of the easiest projects for the do-it-yourselfer, there are certain do's and don't you must be aware of in order to do the best job possible.

One of the most important considerations when tackling this job yourself is in the choice of the roof coatings themselves.  There are many products on the market, and choosing the right one can be a daunting task.  One piece of advice:  don't be lured into purchasing a roof coating just because the sticker price is low. 

Not thoroughly pressure washing the roof before applying the elastomeric roof coating is another common do-it-yourselfer mistake.  Flat roofs collect dirt and debris and must be cleaned prior to coating.  To not do so is begging for the coating to fail.  Caution!  Improper pressure washing can damage your roof!  High pressure jet spray can rip and tear into the roofing materials, and carelessness in directing the jet spray into crevices, cracks, tears, bubbles and other openings in your roof can cause flooding and mold growth on the inside of your home. 

(Click on each of the above photos to enlarge the view.)

The above four "before and after" photos are remarkable.  This was the most difficult and time consuming roof coating job Adobe Masters has ever done, taking Lee, my sales manager and crew leader, almost five full days just to pressure wash it clean....five days!  Lee had to literally strip this old, peeling coating inch by inch with the pressure washer spray until most of the old coating was removed.  The vast majority of our roofs only take a day or less to clean, so five days was truly an extreme case.

As you can see, this was a very large roof and it was a project that was far overdue for the homeowners, Mr. and Mrs. Bull.  Like many people, the Bull's did not pay too much attention to their roof, because like the old saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind."  Most of us don't even think about our roofs until they leak.

Two of the skylights had to be replaced, and many of the areas of the roof that held ponding water had to have a polyester roofing fabric imbedded in these low spots to prevent the water from disintegrating the new elastomeric coating.  Most people do not realize that even the best elastomeric roof coating is not intended to have rainwater simply sitting on top of it for days on end without having reinforcement added to it.  Situations like that will destroy even the most expensive roof coating and the solution is to imbed the fabric system into these low spots in conjunction with the roof coating.  Then, water can sit all day, every day for weeks on end, in these low areas and the water cannot penetrate into the coating and ultimately destroy it.