LESLIE: Juan in South Carolina, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
JUAN: I want to ask you a question about elastomeric roof paint.
TOM: Right.
JUAN: I come from Miami and one of the things that I have done in the past, in Miami, to seal the tiles on the roof is to coat it with elastomeric paint.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right.
JUAN: That not only seals the roof but creates a rubber barrier that basically makes the roof last almost indefinitely. Now, my question is: why would it not work here in South Carolina in regular shingles?
TOM: Well, you have hard tile shingles in Miami, correct?
JUAN: Well, yes. I was talking about, you know, ceramic …
TOM: Right. Right. Ceramic or clay. Right. OK. And in South Carolina, you have asphalt shingles? Yeah. Well, it’s not designed to bind to asphalt shingles the way it may have bound to the ceramic tiles that you had in Miami.
I will say, though, that with an asphalt product, there is a type of paint called fibrous aluminum paint, which is a silver paint; very commonly used on flat roofs or low-sloped roofs where you have built-up tar. Because what that does is that actually makes the roof last longer because it forces the sunlight to reflect off of it more so than absorb into it. And with less UV radiation getting to it, the asphalt stays moist longer, doesn’t crack, doesn’t dry out and, hence, you can go many more years without having to replace your roof.
So, I wouldn’t use elastomeric paint, Juan, but I would consider using fibrous aluminum. Now, if the roof is very visible, you wouldn’t do that because, in that case, it’s going to look silver like a spaceship (chuckles) and not very attractive. But if it’s in the back of the house or it’s low-slope, you can’t see it very well, you could use fibrous aluminum paint and that will extend its life.
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