Restoring a Gravel Roof in Hawthorne, California…

This charming little apartment building is freshly painted, elegantly landscaped and the perfect place to call home in Hawthorne, California.  You would never know by looking at it, but this building suffered from chronic roof leaks for years.

Similar to the gravel roof restoration completed over the Leland church in Mississippi last year, the tar and gravel roof of this apartment building has a very low-slope and ponds water with each rain.  Clear Properties was looking for a solution to their worn and leaking gravel roof when they heard about the SureCoat Roof System.  After much online research and the comparing of product data and warranties, Clear Properties contacted a local SureCoat Approved Contractor for a proposal.

The gravel roof of this Clear Properties’ apartment building consisted of layers of coated felt that was built up and sealed together with asphalt bitumen.  The asphalt was then covered with a layer of gravel to protect it from harmful UV rays.  UV and ponding water are two of the most damaging elements to asphalt roofing materials.

Once a gravel roof is weathered and brittle, walking on the roof to perform leak repairs only increases the chances of developing more roof leaks.  It is easy for the gravel to puncture the dried out asphalt membrane during routine roof maintenance.  The gravel hides the surface of the roof and often creates a water dam that allows water to pond for long periods of time.  A leak can even appear to be in the same area of the roof that has already been repaired because water will always find the weakest point of entry and travel.  Flat and low-slope gravel roofs are some of the most difficult roof systems to detect roof leaks in and then repair.  Years can be spent chasing the leaks in gravel roofs.

The owners of this apartment building had previously contracted with several different roofers in an effort to fix the re-occurring leaks.  Unfortunately, no roof repair lasted long.  Prior to the installation of the SureCoat Roof System, this roof was repaired with several different products.  In one large area of the roof, the gravel was swept away and coated with an inferior white coating.  The owner had been persuaded to use an expensive silicone product that by all accounts was installed correctly only to discolor and blister.  This compounded their roof leak issues as no other roof coating would stick to the blistered and peeling silicone surface.

To avoid the need for re-roof, the SureCoat Approved Contractor heated and ground off the silicone and then scraped the remaining area to allow for a fully reinforced SureCoat Roof System to be properly installed.  The roof was then scrubbed with SureSkrub and power rinsed completely prior to the roof repairs and installation of the SureCoat Roof System.

The SureCoat Roof System saved Clear Properties thousands of dollars over a traditional re-roof.  Best of all, the aggravation of the continuous roof leaks was completely eliminated.  Now the roof is as trouble free and well-kept as the rest of the apartment complex.

The maintenance crew of Clear Properties later attended one of SureCoat Systems’ monthly training classes in Anaheim, California.  During training, the Clear Properties technicians were educated on the SureCoat Roof System and shown how they are able to use SureCoat products to maintain the roofs of their other properties that are still waiting on roof budgets.

There are few options for restoring a gravel roof; luckily SureCoat is one of them!

CHALLENGES:

• Gravel roof prevented the roof surface from being exposed, hiding cracks and failures in the roof membrane
• Silicone repairs, no other product would adhere to the silicone roof coating repair
• Tenants in the building; noise and smell concerns

SOLUTION:

• Remove the gravel ballast material, spud the remaining embedded gravel to eliminate any protrusions or sharp edges that might compromise the system when under foot traffic
• Prepare the roof surface for the application of the SureCoat Roof System by scrubbing the roof with SureSkrub and power rinsing the roof clean
• Apply primer to rusty metal flashings and exposed equipment curbs and apply the SureCoat and Poly-Mesh at all roof penetrations
• Install a 60 mil DFT, 2800 psi tensile strength, fully reinforced SureCoat Roof System with a 10 year renewable, non-prorated warranty

The SureCoat Roof Restoration System is the longest lasting roof coating system for worn out gravel roofs.  By using the existing roof as a base, the SureCoat Roof System can add an additional 10-20 years of life back into an existing gravel roof without the need for a roof tear-off.  The SureCoat Roof System brings new life to old gravel roofs.

This building now has a roof system with a written warranty that is non-prorated, covers leaks in roof ponds and is renewable with maintenance applications at the end of each 10 year warranty period.

Click here to contact SureCoat Systems or call
877-823-7873 for installation and pricing information.