Manufactured home roofs are associated with a few different issues which mean they require a unique kind of roof coating.
Although some of the coating materials you will find out there may be similar to those used on traditional roofs, there’s still a striking difference between standard homes and mobile home roofs.
Firstly, mobile homes don’t have a pitch and if they do, it’s much lower than that you’d find on a standard home’s roof.
Roofs with a low pitch are vulnerable to water pooling which may cause leaks or dampness.
Secondly, mobile homes are generally made up of the same material. You don’t get to install shingles or slate roofs on a mobile home.
What Is The Best Roof Coating For Manufactured Homes?
It’s going to depend on the features you are looking for. Various coating materials come with different attributes. Also, the choice of coating material should differ based on your climate.
If your home is located in a warm or hot climate, you will need a coating material designed to reflect the sun and keep your home cooler. If your area is often cold most parts of the year, you should go for a coating material that capable of holding against heavy snow loads as well as providing an insulation barrier.
The coating materials we want to mention here are some of the most often used out there. Their popularity most likely has something to do with their effectiveness at their job.
Let’s take a glance at each of them:
1. Aluminum Coating
If you are looking for the most cost-effective coating material, don’t look beyond aluminum.
It is also long-lasting, prolonging the lifetime of your roof in the process.
This coating isn’t composed of Aluminum fibers alone, but petroleum solvents and asphalt as well.
Some varieties will come with different pigments to give them distinct appearances, but they all work the same way.
Aluminum roof coating provides durable protection, plus excellent reflective properties. As such, it is the best option for sunny and hot climates because it will keep the home a few degrees cooler in the summer.
The application is normally simple enough to be completed in about 24 hours although this may vary slightly across different manufacturers.
So, this means you will have your durable, heat-reflecting, and inexpensive roof coating in a fairly short time.
There’s one thing worth bearing in mind when dealing with aluminum roof coating: when you buy this coating, be certain to mention that it’s intended for mobile home applications.
The supplier will know the variety to give you which is normally different from the regular variety used on traditional homes.
Kool Seal offers a range of this coating material, including this Kool Seal Premium Fibered Aluminum Coating.
2. Silicone Coating
Is there any industry that hasn’t discovered the usefulness of silicone polymer yet?
One can easily argue that there is almost no segment or aspect of modern society that silicone isn’t a part of – from body parts to car engine parts, you name it.
As a roof coating solution, however, silicone is an impressive adhesive material.
It can be a great choice if your roof is troubled with cracks and dents.
To put it in simple terms, silicone lets you fix roof blemishes that you couldn’t fix with most other materials.
It is also more durable than most of the materials in the market.
Silicone offers excellent insulation properties and will go the extra mile to prevent ponding and leaking.
This means that it is one of the roof coating materials you’d consider when protecting your roof from snow and heavy rains.
Silicone roof coating creates a smooth and clean surface, which will certainly reflect some sunlight back in the sky and still stand up to unforgiving cold and heat. It’s worth mentioning that silicone isn’t prone to melting under the searing sun, neither does it get destroyed by the dampness produced by the snow and cold weather.
You don’t need to be an experienced expert with insane skills to apply silicone roof coating.
In fact, you don’t even need to complete special surface preparation beforehand – the material will easily adapt to any cracks and dents, all by itself!
3. Acrylic Roof Coatings
When you mention acrylic, lots of us think of plastic tumblers and pipes. Acrylic is starting to be as commonplace as silicone.
Back to roof coating materials: acrylic roof coatings come in liquid form, ready to flow on your roof and provide protection against deterioration.
It possesses excellent resistance to UV-rays.
Ask any roofing expert about UV rays and you’ll be shocked with how devastating these rays can be on almost any kind of roof. We need a whole article on that topic.
As far as acrylic is concerned, however, it is just the right material to prevent the destructive sun rays from reaching your roof.
Basically, it will add a few more years to the lifespan of your roof.
Another great feature worth mentioning is that acrylic is designed to expand and contract with your roof.
So, as the temperature builds and falls, the material roof material will follow suit in real-time. More rigid materials will crack and even break at some point, but an acrylic roof coating will remain cohesive.
Perhaps the biggest setback with acrylic is the punishing work you will need to do just to prepare the roof for installation.
Before you even think of putting it on your roof, you need to scrub and clean the surface, then wipe it dry.
You don’t want the material to flow into unwanted places, so you must proceed to fix cracks and other forms of deterioration.
Once you are done preparing the roof, everything from that point onwards becomes easy like winking.
The coating is applied very much the same way as regular paint, although it is not anywhere close to paint. In just a few layers of the coating, your roof will get a brand new, nice-looking, and durable acrylic coating. Be sure to seek the guidance of an expert.
4. Self-Adhesive Coating
Self-adhering materials are a special type of roof coating.
The reason it is special is that the person applying it does not need to use a brush, as it is standard with most other coating materials.
The material comes in form of rolls of films designed to adhere on their own. They are fully prepared coating layers made from a protective material.
Another reason why this kind of coating is popular its ease of use.
When it comes to durability, it scores higher than silicone and a few other commonly used materials.
The film can sometimes consist of aluminum foil with a few layers of asphalt. With this construction, you can expect excellent water protection and insulation.
The installation process is very similar to that used for acrylic.
The only difference is that, at the end of the process, you don’t need to use a brush to apply it on the surface of the roof.
Just roll it out flat and let it stick on the surface. Of course, you will put in some minimal work.
The aluminum surface is perfect for a warmer climate. It will reflect much of the sun and help keep the home cool.
5. Membrane roof
This class of roof coating materials consists of flexible membranes that serve as overlays.
They are sophisticated, so they are only installed by qualified professionals, not DIYers.
Here is a few of them:
EPDM
Sometimes called “seamed rubber roofing” material, EPDM (or ethylene propylene diene monomers) sheets are simply stretched over the clean roof and bonded along seams and around vents.
It is a classic roof coating material for mobile homes and pretty any other flat-roof applications.
TPO
TPO stands for thermoplastic polyolefin.
It is a single-ply coating material with reflective properties.
As the name describes, it is made of ethylene-propylene and polypropylene rubber bonded together.
It’s typically installed in such a way that the layers are adhered to leave the white membrane exposed throughout the entire lifespan of the roof.
It is essentially a reflective multi-ply mat bonded directly to an existing roof or simply fitted onto a firm frame.
PVC
Polyvinyl Chloride Plastic sheets are bonded together on the roof to prevent water penetration.
Conclusion
What is the best roof coating for manufactured homes?
There are so many equally perfect roof coating materials out there for every purpose.
What is “best” for you will depend on the features you are looking for. Various coating materials comes with different attributes.
Also, the choice of coating material should differ based on your climate.
If your home is located in a warm or hot climate, you will need a coating material designed to reflect the sun and keep your home cooler.
If your area is cold most of the time, you should go for a coating material that capable of holding against the heavy snow load as well as providing an insulation barrier.
