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If you are a homeowner or a commercial building owner that has a flat roof you can have serious roof problems occur that are very difficult to repair without the proper knowledge. You can't just hire any roofing contractor to fix the problem, it has to be one with extensive knowledge of roofing surfaces and how each one reacts with different roof coatings. Flat Roof Repair can be very tricky because in a flat roof it can be very difficult to track down the leak source on the top roof surface. A Flat roofs leak can actually be many feet or meters away from where it is entering your building which means that everything between the leak and where it is leaking in is taking on some sort of water damage that has to be fixed before your structure is seriously damaged. A large pool of water can actually form in between your roof surfaces that can damaged far more than just the roof itself. There are a few ways you can handle the situation. The most expensive of course would be a total tear off of the damaged roof surface. This can break the bank and is not always the best option, flat roofs lives can be extended for many years with the proper care and maintenance. The best way to extend the life of the roof is to apply a roof coating to the surface, these come in a few different types. There are asphalt based and polymer or elastomeric based coatings available today. Both can extend the life of your roof but the elastomeric roof coatings will give you a better quality roof surface. Asphalt base come in a liquid form that is generally black and petroleom based. If you are going to use this product be sure to buy one that has a warranty and that has fiberglass embedded fibers throughout it. These type of roof coatings should only be used over a asphalt based roof such as felt or modified bitumen. They can be used on a metal roof but they generally do not work well on these surfaces. There are some roof coatings that have aluminium flakes in it to give a certain level of sunlight reflectivity to help reduce the roofs overall surface temperature thus saving you money on your cooling expenses. Elastomeric roof coatings are generally rubber based and also come in a liquid form. They are generally white in color but can be mixed with colorants to obtain a desired look. Elastomeric Roof Coatings are much better than asphalt based because of there ability to stretch, some of the better brands as much as 600%. This gives you a wide variety of roof problems that can be resolved with this type of coating. Elastomerics can be used on metal roofs, asphalt roofs, concrete roofs and some can be used on rubber roofs. Another nice feature about elastomeric coatings that are white is that they can greatly reduce roof temperature, which in turn should save you money on your energy bills. So over time the roof actually pays for itself in just the energy savings alone. Both of these will give you a seamless roof that should be leak free if applied correctly. Roof Coatings do not work alone, there is a lot of prep work that must be done in order to apply the coating. Fasteners need to individually sealed, seams need to be reinforced, flashing's need to checked and reinforced and yo need to start with a clean surface which that alone can take a lot of time to complete.
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