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Aerial view of a finished white coated flat commercial roof around its rooftop units and parapet walls

Commercial roof restoration

Restore the roof you have. Skip the tear-off.

Applied over a sound, dry roof, a restoration system adds 10 to 15 years of service life. There is no tear-off and the building stays open. Start with a moisture scan: the map shows whether a few sections need replacing first, or so much is wet that replacing the roof makes more sense, before you budget for either.

How the scan works Will a scan work on your roof?

What a restoration is

Keep the roof, renew the surface

A restoration keeps the existing roof and builds a new surface on it. A re-cover lays a new roof covering over the old one; a tear-off strips the roof to the deck. In a restoration everything sound stays in place, and the coating system adds one continuous surface on top. It does not replace a deck, dry out wet insulation or put slope on a roof that never had any. Whether a building department treats it as maintenance or as a re-cover varies, and only the department can say for the address.

  • No tear-off: the existing roof stays and carries the new surface
  • No shutdown: the building stays open while the work goes on
  • Light: ounces per square foot, not pounds
  • One surface: continuous over the field, the seams and the flashings
  • Reflective: white finish coats reflect sunlight and keep the roof surface cooler
A standing-seam metal warehouse roof, the near half restored in white coating and the far half still weathered and rust-stained

Restore or replace

Restore or tear off: what each one involves

The cost lines 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 both numbers.

Restoration

Installed cost
Typically runs $3.50 to $7 per sq ft installed
The existing roof
Stays in place, less any sections confirmed wet, and carries the new surface
The building while work goes on
Open and in use; no kettle or torch on the roof
Wet insulation
Marked by the scan, confirmed by cores, and replaced where confirmed
What it adds
Reinforced details and a coating system over the existing roof: acrylic base and finish coats, or silicone with no base coat
Warranty
Sherwin-Williams', under its own terms, when one of its authorized contractors applies the system
What rules it out
Wet insulation over much of the roof, a membrane failing across the field, or a deck that is not sound

Tear-off and replacement

Installed cost
Typically runs $10 to $18 per sq ft installed
The existing roof
Stripped to the deck and hauled away
The building while work goes on
Each section is open to the deck until the new roof closes it
Wet insulation
All removed with the rest of the roof, wet or dry
What it adds
A new roof assembly: insulation, membrane and flashings
Warranty
The new roof's own terms, from its maker and its installer
What rules it out
Little: it is the route when restoration is ruled out

Run the numbers

Candidates

Which roofs qualify, and what settles it

A coating is a surface, so everything it buys depends on what sits under it. A roof is worth pricing as a restoration when all five of these hold. The scan and the cores settle the insulation, an adhesion test patch settles whether the system holds on this roof, and the building's engineer settles anything structural. The installer who looks at the roof says whether it is a good candidate.

  1. A sound deck that carries the crew, the equipment and the finished system
  2. Dry insulation, or wet areas few enough to cut out and replace first
  3. A membrane largely intact and still attached: split at the laps is normal, failed across the field is not
  4. Drainage that works, or low spots that can be built up so water leaves at the drains and scuppers
  5. Seams, flashings and penetrations that can be repaired one by one before the field is coated

Is this roof a candidate?

How it goes

From scan to finish coat, in order

Each step depends on the one before it, and the scan comes before anything is coated: a white finish makes later thermal work harder. We arrange the scan and supply the materials; a roofing contractor does the work on the roof.

  1. Scan the roof, then core it

    On an evening after a sunny day a drone with a thermal camera flies the roof. You get a map measuring each area that looks wet, video from the flight and a written assessment. The scan marks suspects; the cores confirm them. Metal, ballasted, white-coated and spray foam roofs need another survey.

  2. Replace what is wet

    Each confirmed wet area is cut back to sound material, the insulation replaced to matching thickness and the patch tied back into the field. Coating makers, Sherwin-Williams included, require it before a coating goes on.

  3. Clean and prime by substrate

    The roof is washed and left to dry. The primer follows the substrate: rust-inhibitive on corroded steel, the wash primer on EPDM only, none on weathered TPO or PVC, foam or concrete under silicone. An adhesion test patch settles whether the system holds; on a low result, Uniflex names the primer.

  4. Detail seams, fasteners and penetrations

    Seams, laps, fastener heads, curbs, pitch pans, drains and every pipe through the roof are reinforced or sealed before the field is coated: fabric or seam tape under an acrylic system, sealant and a striped coat under silicone. Count them at survey rather than discover them in week three.

  5. Base coat, under an acrylic finish

    An acrylic finish goes over a base coat across the field and the details: the single-ply base on EPDM, TPO, PVC and Hypalon, the modified bitumen base on asphaltic roofs, the acrylic base on metal, concrete and foam. Silicone44 takes no base coat. The data sheet names the rate and the cure.

  6. Finish coat, and the inspection

    The finish coat is the surface the weather sees: acrylic where the roof drains, silicone where water stands, though silicone does not fix drainage. Where a system warranty is wanted, Sherwin-Williams inspects the finished roof before it issues one.

The process, step by step

The build-up

What goes on the roof, from the deck up

On a membrane roof over insulation, the bottom three layers are the roof the building already has: the deck, the insulation and the membrane stay, and only what the cores confirm wet is cut out and replaced. The top four are what a restoration adds, applied on site in this order; under a silicone finish there is no base coat.

  • Finish coat The surface the weather sees
  • Base coat Under an acrylic finish; silicone takes none
  • Fabric or tape at details Seams, fasteners and penetrations
  • Primer by substrate Where the substrate calls for one
  • Existing membrane Sound and attached; it stays in place
  • Insulation Dry, or replaced where it was wet
  • Deck Structurally sound
Order of application. Illustrative diagram — proportions are not to scale.

By roof type

The roof decides the system

The finish coat is the last decision, not the first. What the roof is made of decides the primer and the detail materials; how it drains decides the chemistry on top. An acrylic finish goes over a base coat; silicone goes on without one, after an adhesion test.

Metal Fasteners tightened, open laps fastened, rust primed; then seam tape and acrylic base and finish coats, or laps striped and the field coated in silicone. A thermal scan is the wrong tool here.
EPDM Wash primer, rinsed; then the single-ply base coat and an acrylic finish, or open seams sealed and silicone with no base coat.
TPO and PVC Washed and adhesion-tested; then the single-ply base coat and an acrylic finish, or silicone directly on weathered membrane. New TPO or PVC needs a primer first: ask us.
Hypalon Where it drains, the single-ply base coat and an acrylic finish, with butyl seam tape at the details. Where water stands, send us the roof: Uniflex names the primer under silicone.
Modified bitumen and built-up Under an acrylic, the modified bitumen base coat is the first coat, with fabric at the laps. Under silicone, no base coat; newer asphalt takes a bleed-blocking primer first, which we do not stock.
Spray foam Damaged or wet foam cut out and replaced, then a base coat and an acrylic finish, or silicone directly. A thermal scan is the wrong tool on closed-cell foam, so it is surveyed another way.
Concrete decks Concrete primer, fabric at cracks and details, then acrylic base and finish coats; or silicone directly on clean concrete cured at least 29 days, with no primer and no base coat.
Over an existing coating Silicone goes directly over a sound, aged acrylic, silicone or urethane coating once it is washed, loose coating is scraped back and adhesion tests pass.
Where water stands after rain Silicone44 KST044300 (white) or KST044320 (gray), or on some roofs the solvent-based pair. Silicone resists standing water but does not fix drainage.

Find the system for your roof

Genuine Sherwin-Williams Uniflex

The materials, on the shelf

The acrylic and silicone finish coats and the base coats at the core of the build-ups above, each listed under its Sherwin-Williams part number.

Estimate the material

Who does what

What we do, and what we do not

CoatYard is an authorized reseller of the Sherwin-Williams Uniflex roofing line. Here is where our part starts and where it stops.

  • We arrange the scan

    A drone moisture scan for commercial low-slope roofs anywhere in the US, flown only with the owner's written go-ahead: a map of what looks wet, video from the flight and a written assessment.

  • We supply the materials

    Genuine Sherwin-Williams Uniflex in the maker's sealed packaging, in stock by the pail, the drum and the tote, with the right build-up for each roof type.

    1–3 business days Ship time, stocked items

  • We introduce 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.

  • We do not apply coatings

    We never do the roofing work ourselves, and we do not issue system warranties: any system warranty is Sherwin-Williams', under its own terms, through its authorized contractors.

Request a moisture scan

Questions

The questions owners ask first

How long does a commercial roof restoration last?
Applied over a sound, dry roof, a restoration system adds 10 to 15 years of service life. The figure rests on both conditions. A coating cannot dry wet insulation or stiffen a failing deck; laid over wet insulation it seals the water in rather than letting the roof dry. That is why the scan, the cores and the repairs come before anyone chooses a product.
What does commercial roof restoration cost per square foot?
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. Acrylic systems sit toward the low end of the restore range and silicone toward the high end; the roof's condition, how much wet insulation comes out, access and region move the number. Florida's wind code keeps replacement in the upper half of its range. The cost calculator runs your roof's area through both.
Does a roof restoration 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 that specification calls for. The goods themselves carry our seller's warranty: they match their description and are free of manufacturing defects when delivered.
Does the building have to close while the roof is restored?
No. The existing roof stays on and only the sections confirmed wet are opened up, so the building stays open and in use while the work goes on. The scan before it usually takes one evening, nobody has to walk the whole roof, and the building runs as normal. Plan access, staging and deliveries with the contractor.
What if the scan flags areas that look wet?
Then those areas are cored, and what the cores confirm wet is cut out and replaced before any coating goes on. A few areas are routine. When much of the roof is wet, replacing usually makes more sense; manufacturers commonly draw that line somewhere between 15% and 30% of the roof, as a rule of thumb rather than a code limit. A sample from a real scan, with the address, the people and the companies removed and the map re-oriented, flagged 28 areas, 1,929 sq ft in total on a roof of about 50,000 sq ft. Nothing in it was cored, so that is the area to check, not the area to replace.
Which roofs cannot be restored?
Roofs with wet insulation over a large share of the area; a surface failing through the field rather than at the laps, with laps open along their length, a cap sheet worn to the mat or foam that crumbles under a screwdriver; a deck rusted through, rotted or moving; or ponding caused by structural deflection. PVC is not on that list: Uniflex's single-ply specifications cover EPDM, TPO and PVC, and an adhesion test settles the build-up. The building's engineer decides anything structural, and the building department decides whether another layer is permitted and what permits the work needs.
Who applies the coating?
A roofing contractor; we never do the roofing work ourselves. If you have no contractor yet, we can introduce you to an installer from the network we work with, anywhere in the US, who looks at the roof first. If you already have one, we supply the materials to them. Where a system warranty is wanted, the contractor has to be one of Sherwin-Williams' authorized contractors.
Can a roof restoration be treated as maintenance for tax?
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.

See a sample scan

Guides

Read further before you budget

The longer reads behind the sections above.

All guides

Know what is under the membrane before you decide

Send the building's address and we will quote the scan; the price depends on the roof's size and where it is. We arrange scans for commercial low-slope roofs anywhere in the US. You get the map, video from the flight and a written assessment; nothing has to be decided until you have seen the map.

Request a moisture scan Request a quote