FAQ
Questions to settle before anyone prices the roof
Most questions come down to one decision: restore the roof you have, or replace it. The answers start with the moisture scan, which shows what looks wet under the membrane before you budget for either, then cover typical costs, who does the work and who decides, and how materials are quoted, shipped and returned. Not answered here? Ask through the quote form; we reply within one business day.
On this page: The moisture scan · Restore or replace, and cost · Who decides and who does the work · The products · Quotes, shipping and returns · Guides
New to the scan? Start with how the scan works.
The drone moisture scan
What the scan shows, and what it cannot
The scan maps where the insulation under the membrane looks wet, and how many square feet of it, with video from the flight and a written assessment, before anyone prices a job. It reads temperature, not water, so every area it flags stays a suspect until a core confirms it.
What is the drone moisture scan?
On an evening after a sunny day, once the sun has set, a drone with a thermal camera flies over the roof. Wet insulation under the surface holds the day's heat longer than dry insulation, so it shows up warmer on the images. Small core samples then confirm the areas it flags. We arrange the flight, and we fly only with the owner's go-ahead. It usually takes one evening, nobody has to walk the whole roof, and the building runs as normal.
What do I get from the scan?
Three things: a map of the whole roof with every area that looks wet outlined and measured in square feet, video from the flight, and a written assessment of what the scan found: the flagged areas and their size, which to core first, and what the pattern suggests for restoring or replacing. It is a screening read, not a diagnosis. In a sample from a real scan, with the address, the people and the companies removed and the map re-oriented, a roof of about 50,000 sq ft had 28 areas flagged: 1,929 sq ft, 3.8% of the roof. Nothing in it was cored, so all of it is suspect.
What does the scan cost?
We quote the scan for your roof when you ask; it depends on the roof's size and where the building is. Send the building's address with the request and the quote is for that roof. Nothing is booked until the owner gives the go-ahead in writing.
Where do you fly, and for which buildings?
We arrange drone moisture scans for commercial low-slope (flat) roofs anywhere in the US. Send the building's address with the request. The materials ship anywhere in the US too, scan or no scan.
Will a thermal scan work on my roof?
It suits low-slope roofs with insulation under a membrane: single-ply, modified bitumen and smooth built-up. It is the wrong tool for ballasted or heavy-gravel roofs, metal panel roofs, highly reflective or already white-coated surfaces, and insulation that does not hold water, such as closed-cell foam. Those roofs are surveyed another way, with cores, a capacitance or nuclear survey or a walk-through, and we say so rather than fly a roof the camera cannot read. Not sure what is up there? Tell us the roof type with the scan request and we will say which survey fits.
When is it flown, and does the building have to close?
It needs a sunny day followed by a clear, dry, calm evening, and it is flown once the sun has set, usually in one evening. The weather sets the date, so we confirm it when the forecast lines up rather than promise a day in advance. The building stays open. Afterwards a roofer goes up to cut the cores.
What can the scan not tell me?
A thermal camera sees temperature differences, not water. It marks areas that look wet, and it can miss some; it cannot show where water gets in or see under rooftop units. Exhaust, standing water, dirt and thicker membrane can read warm over dry insulation, and wind flattens a pattern, so a faint or empty map is not proof that a roof is dry. Cores confirm what it flags, and a roofer still looks at the membrane, the seams and the details. The scan is evidence for the people who decide, not a warranty or code inspection.
How are the flagged areas confirmed?
With small core samples cut at the flagged areas: a core shows the layers, the insulation and whether it is wet. The scan marks suspects; the cores confirm them. ASTM C1153, the standard practice for infrared roof moisture surveys, calls for infrared findings to be verified with cores. A roofing contractor cuts them and patches each one the day it is cut: yours, or one we introduce.
Does the manufacturer require a moisture survey?
For a system warranty, yes. Sherwin-Williams Uniflex requires a moisture survey on every project it issues a system warranty for, and a third-party survey where a 15-year warranty is requested. Whether a given survey is accepted is the manufacturer's call, not ours: our scan is evidence for the people who decide, and the contractor registering the job asks the manufacturer what it needs.
Restoration and money
Restore or replace: the ranges and the rules
Restoring keeps the roof you have and builds a new surface on it, over a sound, dry roof only. The two questions most people arrive with, how many years it adds and what it typically runs, come first; then what rules a roof in or out, the warranty and a word on tax.
What is a roof restoration?
A new continuous surface built over a low-slope roof that is still doing its job. The roof is cleaned and repaired, primed where its substrate and the system need it, every seam, fastener head and penetration is detailed, and the coating system goes on across the field: a base coat and a finish coat for an acrylic system, Silicone44 KST044300 (white) or KST044320 (gray) on its own where water stands. The existing roof stays on: there is no tear-off, and the building stays open while the work goes on.
How many years does a restoration add to a roof?
Applied over a sound, dry roof, a restoration system adds 10 to 15 years of service life. The figure rests on both conditions, which is why the scan, the cores and the repairs come first. On the roof, the system has to go down as its data sheet sets out: the preparation, the rate and the cure.
What does a roof restoration cost?
Restoring a low-slope roof with a coating system typically runs $3.50 to $7 per square foot installed. Tearing it off and replacing it typically runs $10 to $18. Both are typical installed ranges drawn from published industry figures, not a quote: the roof's condition, how much wet insulation has to come out, access and region move the number. Acrylic systems sit toward the low end of the restore range and silicone toward the high end, and Florida's wind code keeps replacement in the upper half of its range.
Which roofs can be restored?
Metal, EPDM, TPO, PVC, Hypalon, smooth built-up, modified bitumen, granulated cap sheet, sprayed polyurethane foam and concrete, provided the deck is sound, the insulation is dry or its wet sections are replaced first, the membrane is largely intact, and water leaves at the drains or can be made to. Whether a particular roof is a good candidate is the installer's call, made on the roof, and an adhesion test patch settles whether the coating holds.
Why does wet insulation have to come out first?
Coating makers, Sherwin-Williams included, require wet insulation to be found and replaced before a coating goes on. A coating cannot dry what is already wet; laid over it, it seals the water in under a surface that looks finished. A roof with wet insulation is not a candidate until that is cut out and replaced, which is why the scan and the cores come before anyone chooses a product. A white coating also makes later thermal work harder: one more reason to scan before coating.
When does replacing make more sense than restoring?
When much of the roof is wet. Cutting out and replacing a few areas is routine; manufacturers commonly draw the line somewhere between 15% and 30% of the roof, as a rule of thumb, not a figure from any code or standard. Also when the membrane is failing through the field rather than at the laps, when the deck is rusted through, rotted or moving, or when ponding comes from structural deflection. The building's engineer decides anything structural, and the building department decides whether another layer is permitted.
Does a restored roof come with a warranty?
Sherwin-Williams offers UNIGUARD system warranties of 10 or 15 years when one of its authorized contractors applies the system. The warranty is the manufacturer's, issued under its own terms; we supply the materials. The manufacturer inspects the finished roof before it issues one. If you want one, say so at quote time so the material list matches what the manufacturer's specification calls for. The goods themselves carry our seller's warranty: they match their description and are free of manufacturing defects when delivered.
Can restoration be treated as maintenance for tax purposes?
Many owners treat restoration as maintenance for tax purposes — worth a word with your CPA. How the work is treated on the books is the owner's accountant's decision, not ours.
The go-ahead, installers and who decides
Our part, and the people who decide
The owner gives the go-ahead for the scan. We arrange it, supply the materials and can introduce an installer. We never apply coatings ourselves, and we never decide whether a roof can be restored: the contractor, the engineer and the building department do.
Who gives the go-ahead for a scan?
The building owner, in writing. An owner, a facility or property manager, or a roofing contractor bidding the roof can ask, but we fly only with the owner's written go-ahead, and the owner gets the map, video from the flight and the written assessment. Saying yes to the scan commits the owner to nothing else.
What happens after the map?
Cores confirm what is wet, and the answer is then usually one of three: a restoration with nothing to replace first, a restoration once the wet sections are cut out and replaced, or a replacement because too much of the roof is wet. The installer who looks at the roof says which. If you want an installer, we can introduce one, and once the cut-out area is known we quote the materials for the roof.
Do I have to use your installer or buy the materials from you?
No. If you want an installer, we work with a network of installers, roofing contractors who apply these systems, and can introduce you to one anywhere in the US, who looks at the roof and says whether it is a good candidate for restoration. If you already work with a roofing contractor, we quote the genuine Sherwin-Williams Uniflex materials for them. For a system warranty, the contractor who applies the system has to be one of Sherwin-Williams' authorized contractors, so ask yours before the job is specified.
Do you apply the coating?
No. We never do the roofing work ourselves: a roofing contractor applies the system. Our part is to arrange the scan, supply the materials and, if you want one, introduce an installer.
How long does the work take, and does the building stay open?
It depends on the roof's size, how much has to be cut out and replaced, how many seams and penetrations need detailing, and the weather. The installer's schedule is the only answer worth having, and no one can give a real one before the roof has been scanned and cored. Ask for it in writing with the scope, and ask how weather days are handled. The building stays open throughout.
Who decides whether my roof can be restored?
The installer looks at the roof, says whether it is a good candidate and writes the scope, working from the map and the cores. The building's engineer decides anything structural. The building department decides whether another layer is permitted and what permits the work needs. The owner's accountant decides how the work is treated on the books. The scan and the cores are evidence for those decisions, not the decision itself.
Can a contractor ask for a scan of a roof they are bidding?
Yes, with the owner's written go-ahead: you can ask on the owner's behalf, and the owner gets the map, video from the flight and the written assessment. Once cores confirm the flagged areas, their square footage is where the cut-out scope and the material count start. Send the roof area, the substrate, the detail counts and the site ZIP, and we reply within one business day with a price for the materials.
Can my company join your installer network?
If you are a roofing or coating contractor who applies these systems, yes, you can ask. Send the request through the quote form with your company name and the states you cover, and a person answers; the page for contractors has a button that starts it for you. The network is ours: joining it is not Sherwin-Williams' authorized-contractor program, which the manufacturer runs itself.
The products
Genuine Sherwin-Williams Uniflex, by part number
Every product is listed under its Sherwin-Williams part number. What goes on a given roof depends on the substrate and on whether water stands; the data sheet and an adhesion test patch settle the rest.
Are these genuine Sherwin-Williams products?
Yes. CoatYard is an authorized reseller of the Sherwin-Williams Uniflex roofing line. Every product is listed under its Sherwin-Williams part number and ships in the maker's sealed packaging. We are not Sherwin-Williams or its agent, and we do not issue system warranties.
Acrylic, silicone or solvent-based: which finish coat?
Drainage usually decides. The acrylic finish KST041300 suits roofs that drain. Where water stands after rain, Silicone44 KST044300 (white) or KST044320 (gray) takes its place, with no acrylic base coat under it, or on some roofs the solvent-based base KST042200 and finish KST042100: under prolonged ponding an acrylic film can lose adhesion and peel. Silicone44 does not fix drainage; the roof still needs slope and working drains. Aluminum KST020475 suits asphaltic roofs and goes directly over lightly rusted metal. White finish coats reflect sunlight and keep the roof surface cooler.
Do I need a primer?
It depends on the roof and the system. Rusted steel takes the rust-inhibitive primer KST034520; pre-finished panels take KST036520 under an acrylic system, and an adhesion test decides under Silicone44. Weathered EPDM takes the wash primer KST038620; TPO, PVC and Hypalon a pressure wash. Concrete takes KST036500 under an acrylic system only. Under Silicone44 no roof takes an acrylic base coat; newer asphalt takes Uniflex's Bleed Blocker Primer, which we do not stock: ask us. The asphalt primer KST020412 revives dried-out smooth built-up and modified bitumen; aluminum does not require it.
Can I coat over an old coating?
Often, and the adhesion test decides. Silicone44 KST044300 (white) or KST044320 (gray) goes directly over a sound, aged acrylic, silicone or urethane roof coating once the roof is washed, loose coating is scraped back and adhesion tests pass. The test is a small patch of Silicone44 with a fabric strip in it, left three days and pulled; a weak pull goes to Uniflex, which names the primer. Contractors commonly work to the rule that little sticks to cured silicone except more silicone. If nobody knows what the old coating is, test before you order.
What about PVC roofs?
PVC can be coated: Uniflex's single-ply specifications, silicone and acrylic, cover EPDM, TPO and PVC. On weathered PVC, Silicone44 KST044300 (white) or KST044320 (gray) goes on directly after an adhesion test, with no primer and no base coat, once open seams and flashings are sealed with the black MS hybrid sealant KST058310. For an acrylic finish, the single-ply specification covers PVC too, and the adhesion test settles the build-up. New PVC, or a low test result, needs a primer that Uniflex names for the roof: ask through the quote form.
What about Hypalon roofs?
A Hypalon roof that drains takes the single-ply acrylic system: a pressure wash, the single-ply base coat KST041321, then the acrylic finish KST041300 or KST041500. For a Hypalon roof that holds water, send us the roof: no Uniflex silicone document covers Hypalon, so the primer under silicone has to come from Uniflex in writing, after an adhesion test. At the details, the butyl seam tape is the only detail product in the range listed for Hypalon, coated over the same day; tell us the membrane type before ordering any cartridge sealant.
Where are the data sheets?
Application rates, cure times and surface preparation are in the product data sheet and safety data sheet for each part number, and we do not quote them from memory. Ask and we send the current ones with your quote. Where a written specification exists for the roof, it wins over any general guide.
What sizes do the coatings come in?
Most coatings come in 5-gallon pails and 55-gallon drums, and several acrylic and solvent-based finish and base coats also in 275-gallon totes. Sealants come by the case of cartridges or cans, and fabric and seam tapes by the roll.
Can I get a product sample before I order?
There are no sample kits. A contractor who wants to run an adhesion test patch orders a pail, puts the actual system down on a small area, lets it cure as the data sheet requires and pulls it. Nothing else answers whether this coating will hold on this roof.
Quotes, shipping and returns
Priced by quote, put in writing
Every order is priced by quote, a single pail included, and the quote states freight to your site and the ship date. Stocked items ship in 1–3 business days, and materials ship anywhere in the US.
How do I get a price?
Send the part numbers and quantities, or the roof type, its condition and the square footage, with the site ZIP. The form takes text only: if you have photos, a roof plan or a specification, describe them in the notes. A person reads every request and replies within one business day with a written price that includes freight to the site and the ship date. Materials are priced per project, not from a list.
Do you have contractor pricing?
Not as a published program. Every price is on the quote, worked out for the quantities and the site. To ask about account terms, say so on the quote request.
Can I order online?
By quote: there is no cart. Every order, a single pail included, goes through the quote form, so the freight is priced for your site and the ship date is a real one. The order is placed when you confirm the quote.
How fast do you ship, and where?
Stocked items leave the warehouse in 1–3 business days. Items that are ordered in take 1–2 weeks, and the quote says which is which. Materials ship anywhere in the US.
How do drums and totes arrive?
By freight, on pallets. Tell us whether the site has a dock or a forklift; if not, we quote lift-gate delivery. Solvent-based products, asphalt primers, aluminum coatings and aerosols ship as regulated freight and are quoted as such.
Can coatings ship in winter?
Water-based coatings must not freeze in transit or in storage. Tell us the delivery conditions in cold months and the quote plans the shipment around them.
What can be returned?
Unopened, full containers of stocked products come back within the return window, less the restocking fee; you pay the return shipping. Ask us for a return authorization first. Custom, made-to-order and special-order items are final sale. Where a written quote sets different terms, the quote's terms apply. The returns page has the full policy.
What if something arrives damaged?
Note the damage on the delivery receipt before you sign, photograph the packaging and the goods, and report it within the damage-report window on the returns page. We replace goods damaged in transit and handle the carrier claim ourselves. Do not apply damaged material. A defect found later is reported within the claims window on the returns page, and before the material goes on the roof.
Read further
The longer answers, in the guides
Six answers that need more room than an FAQ: how an infrared moisture survey works and when it does not, how core samples confirm it, what makes a roof a candidate, what a coating typically costs per square foot, the build-up by roof type, and the math from square feet to gallons.
- Infrared roof moisture survey: how it works, and when it does not
An infrared roof moisture survey sees temperature, not water: here is what it needs, which roofs it suits, what the report shows and why cores confirm it.
- Roof core samples: the test cuts that confirm a moisture scan
Core samples turn a scan's suspects into facts: what a cut shows, where to cut and how many, wet from dry by feel and by weight, and same-day patching.
- Restore or replace: how to tell whether a roof can be coated
What makes a low-slope roof a candidate for a fluid-applied restoration, what rules it out, and the survey, cores and test patch that settle it.
- What a commercial roof coating costs per square foot
Here is what a coating restoration typically costs per square foot installed, the seven things that move the number, and how to firm it up before anyone bids.
- Which coating system goes over which roof
The acrylic and the silicone build-up for each roof: metal, EPDM, TPO, PVC, Hypalon, BUR, cap sheet, foam and concrete, with the part numbers.
- How to estimate material for a roof coating job
Area to squares, an allowance for texture and waste, the data-sheet rate per square per coat, round up to pails and drums, then count the detail materials.
Ask about the roof in front of you
Owners: send the building's address and we quote the scan for that roof. Contractors: send the part numbers, or the roof type and the square footage, with the site ZIP. We reply within one business day.