Roof Coating

[Keith Oliver]

My first purchase was at Harbour Chandler, in Nanaimo.  Then I and a friend went together on $150 worth, to get a deeper discount at eshine.ca.  I now have a few year's worth.

[JimDyer]

Thanks

[George H. Wall]

Ed,  Did you apply your Rustoleum with a  roller, and how many coats??      

[Edward Buker]

George,

Yes I used two coats and the paint appiies well with a roller. I had a smaller roller with a handle that gave me about a 2.5 ft reach. The roller had a relatively short nap and was about 1 inch in diameter. The size allowed me to get under the solar panels for several inches and around the air conditioner bases. I had a small brush available to paint under edges that the roller could not reach.....below is from an earlier post on this subject.

As long as there are no major gel coat issues I found the roof painting to be a relatively easy job. This is a repost of what it took to get it done. Water did not bead on my roof after the cleaning with Simple Green. I had not waxed the roof before so there may be prep variations that one might need to create depending on how the gel coat had been treated and how the surface looked from a water beading point of view after cleaning.

The prep consisted of pressure washing the roof with a Simple Green solution. Once dry I scrubbed the roof surface with a Red Scotchbrite automotive prep pad. I did this by hand but it could be done with an orbital tool with a Scotchbrite pad. Basically a quick light scuffing. The roof being aged and oxidized means it is already roughened microscopically. I then washed the surface with an automotive wax and grease cleaning solvent by 3M. The prep took about 3 to 4 hours. I taped the perimeter and roof structures like the air conditioner bases with two inch Scotch Blue Painters Tape (approx 1.5hrs) and then used a 1 inch by 6 inch roller to roll on two coats of deck paint. (less than 2 hours per coat and 3 quarts of paint total) This job can be completed for about $100 in about 8hrs spread over several days. I rollered paint over the roof sealant along the edges of the vent hatches and the like, thinking it would protect the sealant some and they havebeen  fine with no peeling.

Being an oil base paint it will need some drying time. I put down one coat per day over the several days.

To me this is a whole lot less work than waxing the roof over and over and cleaning streaks from the coach surfaces.

Later Ed

[Don Hircock]

Seeing we are back on the subject of roof coating..... I just wanted to pass along that after two years and several seasons of travel through the deserts of NM, at times in excess of 105 degrees, and into the rains and cool of the Pacific NW, a summer in VT, and winters in coastal AL the paint coating has held up.  The Rustoleum Marine Fiberglass Deck paint is still glossy with no sign of deterioration or adhesion loss. This is after several pressure washings. If there is an area with mold on it I will linger with the pressure washer to clean it which is a pretty severe test.

 This finish is made to stand up to the sun in a marine environment and I cannot come up with anything that I dislike about it in regard to cost, durability, and ease of application. The oxidation streaks no longer exist and the painted surface is smooth enough to shed most dirt in the rain. Just thought I would pass this experience along with the other alternatives.

Later Ed

[Don Hircock]

Ed,

Well, I screwed up doing that quote of 4 words that I wanted..  Rustoleum Marine Fiberglass Deck paint is what I was after.  Is that also known as their Marine Topside paint? Your way seems the best to me.  I would think that would give the UV protection for quite an extended length of time with doing nothing more than a good washing when possible.  It is time I need to do something as I don't like the work of waxing.  Tough on the knees.  Thanks,  Don

[Edward Buker]

Don,

It is the Marine Topside paint and it was available at Lowes in a gloss white. There is also a fine grit additive available in a can but I did not use it nor see the need for it in our application. Link below.

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=4

Simple Green wash first. Many of the car wash soaps have wax in them now so steer clear of those for the roof prep. I ceratinly did not overdo the scuff and solvent wash. Just a red scotchbrite pad passed a couple of times back and forth to lightly scuff the surface to take off anything loose and then a quick solvent wipe on a rag (which I did change often) of the surface.

 This is an excellent wax and grease remover that does not evaporate too quickly, it does the job very well. Friends of mine in the autobody business swear by it. PPG DX330 Wax and Grease Remover. It leaves no residue and evaporates cleanly. Any automotive paint supplier that handles PPG will have it.

http://www.welleauto.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=893&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=57

Tape off and roller away. You have to keep moving to keep a wet edge. On the first coat it will not look completly even with full coverage, second coat it will look just fine. This job looked bigger than it was, it only took about 8 hours over several days to get it done.

I think the good thing about marine deck paint is that it should stay adhered very well. If it fades with time or needs to be recoated, it is a light scuff, a quick solvent wipe and roller on another coat. I'm not sure when and if I will ever need to do that.  

I'm a little wary of how one might deal with the thicker more flexible coatings if it starts to fail....just not sure how that is handled. They may be just fine. It will be good to have some photos and reports on ease of application and how these other coatings are holding up over time.

Later Ed

[JimDyer]

Ed, you mentioned solvent and a PPG Wax and Grease Remover .......can you clarify so I can do exactly what you did?

Thanks

[Edward Buker]

Jim,

The solvent is the PPG DX330 wax and grease remover. It is a standard surface cleaner for automotive painting that works very well here.

Later Ed

[JimDyer]

tHanks, Ed