The evolution of coatings and membranes

CCS Influencer Joe Sorrentino says there's always going to be an evolution within the systems because no matter how hard human nature tries, we will not beat Mother Nature.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation with Joe Sorrentino. You can listen to the interview or read the transcript below.

Dani Sheehan: Hi, my name is Dani Sheehan. I am here for the February coatings Influencer response, and I am talking to Joe Sorrentino today. How are you, Joe?

Joe Sorrentino: Great, doing great this morning. How are you, Dani?

Dani Sheehan: Fantastic, thank you so much. So for February, we are talking about this shift to coating membrane systems, which is a very big topic. I also think it's very relevant right now in our industry. So what can you tell me about the shift that you're seeing?

Joe Sorrentino: Well, you know, I've been involved in the roofing industry since the late 70s. And the entire industry started an evolution at that point. During continuing ed courses, I would talk about the roofing market in the late 70s being 95 % hot, petuminous of some type, asphalt, coal tar pitch roofing, etc. Enter EPDM into the marketplace with a labor and material warranty in the late 70s and then being accepted by built-up roofing manufacturers to offer them in lieu of roof bonds, it allowed roof coatings to take a big advantage on the sustainability side.

But the country was in a shock at that point in time with oil embargoes. So it was really a learning process. My first fluid applied, liquid applied application experience goes back to 1985 with a small energy based company in North Georgia that saw the value in white reflective materials on top of their Quonset Hut facility that moved on to sustainability because of the tremendous slope.

And the other part to it is there's a shift in contractor acceptance because of the newer generations of contractors. Because of the fact that just like hot built up roofing had an oil embargo which escalated pricing, single ply membranes have issues just like cold applied, just like modified bitumen. The sustainability side of liquid applied coatings really allows it to participate in any marketplace, even in new construction in today's market.

It's the contractor base and the designer and the engineers and the specifiers that really tie everything together because when you really listen to building owners and they've clutched and embraced the sustainability side with the proper evaluation of an existing single-ply or modified bitumen roof, it becomes a sustainable solution for the life of the building, adding reinforcements to liquid materials puts it in that category of a roofing and membrane. And so therefore you then have to look at insurance requirements. The state of Florida is very stringent on the term that you can have material down. It makes it a challenge for owners who embrace sustainability.

The testing of materials will go on the same. We look for hail impact, we look for tensile strength, we look for elongation properties. And in those cases, most single ply and modified bitumen systems that have endured hail impact have worked with the same materials that liquid applied systems utilize, which is a polyester membrane or reinforcement.

So it's a very interesting mix in today's world. Liquid applied materials are growing because there's also a step back to a lot of concrete structures. So there are some advantages in that regard. The adage, every real coin has two sides is important because there are disadvantages in going over a moisture latent system, which concrete is with liquid applied materials. So it gets back to preparation, patience and the understanding from the contractor base. And I really think that the evolution of the contractor base and owners seeing sustainability in a lot of these fluid applied, liquid applied roofing systems is why it will continue to grow and has been very well accepted.

Dani Sheehan: Yeah, I think that, I mean, you said it perfectly. And I really think it's key to highlight that reinforcement, right? Because I think for so long, we've thought about coatings as simply that, a paint, a band-aid, something that you just like throw on top of. And now moving, even just in the language that we're talking about it, as fluid applied systems, as liquid applied membranes, helps us move toward that reinforcement, that idea that this isn't a band-aid, but this is a long-term solution in the industry that is helping with sustainability, that's helping with resiliency, and adapting to our changing building infrastructure.

Joe Sorrentino: And you're spot on. And the big debate is, is it a maintenance coating or is it a fluid applied system? This goes back to testing and standards. There's ways for roof coating materials to attain proper standard requirements on a maintenance side, just like they are with reinforcements able to incorporate within a roofing system. So it really, it becomes a challenge because of the amount of materials that people have available. We have three standards, but there are many more. We have water-based acrylics, we have silicone, and we have urethanes. Each one of those has different performance characteristics and advantages. And some are being hybrid put together with water-based acrylic reinforced systems being installed and then a liquid applied silicone over the top to deal with any issues as it relates to water.

So, you know, once again, there's always going to be an evolution within the systems because no matter how hard human nature tries, we will not beat Mother Nature. So we still will have that challenge regardless of what we do, Dani.

Dani Sheehan: No, I think that is fantastic. I appreciate you taking the time to answer this month's response. Make sure to check out the other responses from all of our influencers on CoatingsCoffeeShop and look out for Joe's response next month. Thank you so much for being here.