Setting the record straight on roof coatings

By Jenny Yu.  

Industry leaders explain why long-term success depends on treating coatings as a complete roofing system. 

In a recent CoatingsCoffeeShop® Coffee Conversations®, sponsored by H.B. Fuller, Megan Ellsworth spoke with Mike Kintop, senior product manager at H.B. Fuller, and Chelsea Oesch, marketing director for TRI-BUILT® at QXO, about the misconceptions in the roof coatings industry and what success looks like going forward. 

The main misconception that the panel tackled was the idea that coatings are a simple top-coat, fix-all solution. “Coatings don't fix failing roofs,” Chelsea explained. “If we think about the late-night infomercial that pushed this myth of a one-coat miracle, like this bucket of goo is going to fix all of your problems, it’s created a bit of industry distrust between the homeowners and what is actual reality.” 

Instead, Chelsea encouraged participants to see coatings as a system that determines long-term success, rather than just a substance. “What success really looks like is a proper assessment done to the roof. Failures happen when coatings are treated like paint, and not like a system,” Chelsea said.  

Mike added, “Preparation, evaluation, priming — all those things are critical to the success of the roof, and I think we're making good progress in that direction.”  

Furthermore, Mike emphasized the importance of every person in a project’s process to cultivate that success. “Each person on the team has a role,” Mike stated. “The manufacturers have a critical role in the assessment of systems and making sure all the components are compatible. Specifiers are often engaged for non-destructive testing and other parts of the process. Contractors are involved in making sure their crews are trained. So, it's a team effort.” 

Chelsea agreed, saying, “I really feel like clear roles equals fewer failures. As a distributor, our role is to connect the dots between the contractor and the manufacturer and be that middleman that holds everything together.” 

Listen to the podcast or Watch the webinar to learn more about the potential of liquid-applied systems across the building envelope.