Roof Coating And Sealing

More and more roof coating companies seem to be popping up these days and as usual many of them make very extravagant claims. I wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight, once and for all, written by me, a very experienced roof tiler and contractor.

This statement should really be taken with a pinch of salt. If a new roof costs £5000 and is expected to last 75 years+ and a roof coating costs £4000 and lasts 10 years (if you are very lucky), would you feel this is value for money?

This is a statement I have seen several high profile roof companies make and in my opinion is ridiculous. A thin layer of paint/coating will offer as much insulation as a coat of Marmite. I feel the reason new houses are constructed with traditional insulation products is because they work much better and are much cheaper than expensive coatings

Many high pressure salesman use this claim as part of their pitch and my advice is to fix any insulation issues with the property by purchasing more insulation - not roof coatings.

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, a discount is apparently offered if the house is the first in the area to have a roof coating applied. It's best to avoid such sales tactics, it is a sign of desperation from a company that cannot reach new customers by word of mouth and is designed to rush you into a purchase.

Read the small print folks, if you cannot see specific details of what is included or excluded then it's not worth the paper it's written on.

Here is an example of how one company advertises it's special 10 year guarantee:
We guarantee that your roof will be protected from the elements for a period of 10 years.

Does the guarantee cover the product if it peels/washes off the roof?

Does the guarantee cover moss re growth on the tiles?

Has the company that offers this guarantee even been in business for 10 years?

Remember: A vague guarantee without specifics is worthless

Below is a quote from a customer of a well known roof coating company:
Aquaseal is totally crap i can say this because I paid to get this done a few years ago, lately it started flaking off so with my 10 year gaurantee I phoned customer services a number in Kirkintilloch Glasgow. I was told that the original company had gone bust and Myrie Developments was now the franchise operator. After several calls after being told firstly that we cannot help and then maybe we can do something they refused to get in touch always we will conntact you soon. seemingly this is quite comman with the 10 year gaurentee with companys going bust to start again in order not to honour it as for the product great if you want it done and then sell up big mistake if you think it will enhance your home my advise keep away.

Go for a ten minute car drive around your local area and look at all the roofs, count how many you see have been coated (you can easily see them as they are bright shiny red/orange).
I guess you didn't see too many huh?

Probabley best you read this page - about a well known roof coating company

Shocking.

Below is a selection of quotes from others more familiar with the roofing profession:

You don't put magic coating on roofs, you fix them properly. Aquasealing your roof is like Pikeys tarmacing your drive....looks nice when you pay.

Absolute pile of rubbish, rip off, blarney. Buy some new roof tiles and save yourself the embarrassment. You will be the ridicule of your neighbours. Painting roofs is unnecessary, looks rubbish and does absolutely nothing to prolong the life of the tiles. The sales pitch of these pikey rip-off merchants is plain fraud.

We are refusing to pay, as the product peeled off, and the ridge of the roof, had cement coming away and falling on to our patio, back and front. The company have lied to their finance company by saying, we were the ones refusing them access, we have taken some interesting pictures of the shabby work.

the new workmen spent less than one hour re-spraying my roof and allowed me to inspect it before leaving - all looked good. The next day however it rained and once again, the paint began washing off.