How to Preserve Rubber Roof

LESLIE: Alright. Gene in Tennessee is up with a roofing problem, trying to preserve rubber roof. Tell us what’s going on.

GENE: About 12 years ago, I built me a screened-in porch on my house. I’ve got a ranch-type house.

TOM: OK.

GENE: And I used the metal clips – the little hangers – to hang my rafters. And I went in beside of my rafters coming off an existing house and it only gives me a 1-inch drop per foot. And I had a little trouble with it leaking and so I had (inaudible at 0:06:54) asphalt shingles put on and it leaks.

So, when I had my new roof put on about two years ago, I – seven years ago, I roofed the house and they recommended I put a rubber roof on a 10×30 addition to my house, so the water would run off regular. And here, recently, about two years ago, I had one of the new shingles put on my roof. And I noticed that while I was up there, that the rubber seems to be kindly breaking down a little.

TOM: OK. So, a couple of things. First of all, you have a low-slope roof. You originally had asphalt shingles on that, which was a mistake because asphalt shingles, you really need at least like a 3:12 pitch to put those on. If you’ve got a 1:12 pitch, that’s not enough.

So now you replaced that with a rubber roof, which was the right thing to do. But now you’re seeing the rubber roof start to crack. So your question is: “How do I preserve rubber roof? How do I protect it?” Correct?

GENE: Yeah, well, I want to add a few more. It was guaranteed 10 years but it’s about 7 years old now and I want to make it last a little longer, yes. Some kind of coating?

TOM: So what you want is simply roof paint to preserve rubber roof. Now, roof paint is a very specialized type of paint. It’s usually aluminum in color and sometimes they call it “fibrous aluminum.” And what it does, it has a high degree of UV reflectivity, so it reflects the UV from the sun back out again. And that keeps the roof cooler and makes it last longer.

So, I would definitely give it a coat of roof paint. And if you go to a home center or a roofing-supply center and look for roof paint, you shouldn’t have any problem finding it. It’s very, very specialized. And we’re not talking about the kind of paint you put on your walls; it’s a roofing product. OK?

GENE: OK. Thank you.

TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.