As an Allentown metal roof coating contractor, we inspect commercial metal roofs, repair seams and fasteners, then coat the panels so the roof sheds water again.
Allentown metal roof coating keeps the panels you already own when they still hold fasteners. Replacement takes them off. Here is how the two jobs compare.
Every job runs through the same four calls, in this order, before a coat goes on.
We walk the panels, seams, fastener lines, curbs, and gutters, and we check under the deck where we can get in. Leak history and old patches go on the same sheet.
Firm steel with surface rust usually can. Rust-through, loose attachment, or wet insulation means those panels get repaired or replaced before any coating is priced.
Silicone, acrylic, and foam each suit different slopes, drainage, and existing finishes. We match the product to the panels and to what the roof has to handle.
Prep, repairs, film thickness, and future recoats all go into the number. You see the coating range beside the replacement range so the choice is clear.
Pick the roof you have. Each panel below says what that system suits, where it falls short, and links to the full service.
Ribbed steel panels on warehouses and shops get cleaned, rust-primed, fastener-sealed, and coated as one system across the field and the laps.
Silicone goes down thick and stays flexible on low pitches. It tolerates slow drainage better than acrylic, though the cause of standing water still gets fixed.
Water-based acrylic suits metal roofs that shed water well. It reflects sun, recoats easily, and needs dry, mild weather for each pass to cure.
Spray foam adds insulation and one continuous surface over metal or older flat roofs, then takes a protective coating that needs periodic renewal.
A coating fits only shingles that are still flat, attached, and dry, and only with a product approved for asphalt shingles.
Call us and describe where the water shows up inside. We start at that seam, screw row, or curb before anything else on the roof is planned.
These are the roof conditions owners describe before the work and what the panels look like once prep and coating are done.
These six conditions decide whether a metal roof is ready for coating or needs repair work ahead of it.
Surface rust on firm steel gets cleaned and primed. Holes or flaking that a screwdriver pushes through mean that panel is cut out or replaced first.
Washers dry out and screws back off as panels move. We replace them with oversized fasteners where the hole is worn, then seal each head.
Wind drives rain sideways through a lap that has lost its sealant. Each lap is cleaned and sealed before the coating crosses it.
HVAC curbs, vent stacks, and pipe boots move differently from the panels around them. Their flashing gets repaired and reinforced at the coating line.
Insulation that stays wet under the deck rots the steel from the inside. We find it first, because coating over it traps the water in.
Snowmelt that backs up behind ice in a gutter finds every weak lap. Clear drainage paths are part of the repair list.
Is your building near Allentown? We coat commercial metal roofs in the towns below; for a building anywhere else, call us or send us a message.
For planning, coating runs about $2.50 to $4.00 per square foot of roof, and replacement about $5 to $8.
Your number moves with roof size and access, how much rust and seam prep the panels need, fastener sealing, the coating type and thickness, the number of coats, and how many penetrations and flashings the roof carries.
Start with the steel. Panels that still hold screws and show only surface rust are coating candidates. Panels rusted through, loose on the purlins, or sitting over wet insulation point to replacement for those areas. Many roofs end up with a mix: a few panels replaced, then the whole field coated.
Hold off until the damage is mapped. Hail and the summer wind that comes with it can puncture panels, open laps, and shift flashing. Those repairs come first. A coating rolled over unfound punctures hides them for a season, and the leaks return under the new finish.
Yes. Water that freezes inside an open seam or a gap at the flashing pries it wider each cycle, so problems appear in late winter. Ice at gutters also holds snowmelt against the laps. Heavy wet snow is a structural load question, which the condition of the coating cannot answer.
It should say which roofing stays, what gets repaired, and whether any supporting members are touched. Pennsylvania uses the Uniform Construction Code, and a clear scope lets the reviewing office see panel replacement or structural work instead of reading the job as coating alone.
It depends on the film thickness applied, how well the laps and fasteners were prepared, and what the roof sees afterward: foot traffic, ponding, and hail. Coatings are recoated rather than replaced, so a maintained roof keeps its protection. We point to inspection findings over a promised number of years.
Coating pays off when the panels are firm, the insulation is dry, and the leaks come from laps, fasteners, and rust spots. Then coating fixes the actual failure points for well under the cost of new panels. When the steel itself has failed, money goes further on replacement.
Yes, when the building is used commercially, such as equipment storage. Those barns get the same panel, fastener, and moisture checks, plus a look at condensation and ventilation under the metal, since stored equipment can trap damp air against the steel.
Send the roof size and a few details for a ballpark range, or call to talk through the panels, seams, and leaks you are seeing.
