Coleman porch roofs, sealed and rolled bright white.
Low-slope aluminum porch and carport roofs, washed, sealed at every lap and screw, then coated white by a crew that drives up from Bushnell in about ten minutes.
Coatings
Most of the coating we roll out around Coleman goes onto aluminum bolted to the side of a shingled house.
Look at enough homes out here and the pattern repeats. The main roof is shingle. Then a back porch, a carport or a screened room got added later under a low aluminum roof. Those add-ons sit close to flat, so rain stays on them longer, the sun bakes them all afternoon, and the laps and screws are what give out first.
A white coating suits that kind of roof. It bridges the small gaps along the panel laps, covers the fastener heads and turns a surface that runs hot into one that throws most of the sun back. The house in this photo is a typical case: porch and carport sections freshly white against a brown shingle roof, and the neighbor’s bare aluminum carport still sitting there at the top of the frame for comparison.
Flat sections on sheds and other outbuildings take the same treatment, provided the surface underneath is sound. Whether it is sound is the first thing we find out.
Everything that happens before the roller comes out.
A coating laid over dirt or an open seam just hides the problem under a fresh-looking skin. These steps come first on every porch and carport we coat.
- Wash. Mildew, pollen, leaf litter and loose old paint come off, and the surface dries completely before anything else touches it.
- Fasteners. Every screw gets checked. Loose ones are tightened or replaced, and each head is sealed on its own before the field coat.
- Laps and seams. The joints between aluminum panels get a reinforced seal, since that is where a porch roof usually starts to weep.
- The tie-in at the house. Where the porch roof meets the wall or tucks under the shingle edge, the flashing is inspected and sealed. A failed tie-in gets rebuilt before any coating.
- Primer where it is needed. Some surfaces need it for the coating to grip, and some do not. We decide per roof.
- The coat. Silicone or elastomeric, rolled out to the thickness the system calls for, then left alone to cure.
The full method, including the commercial flat roofs we restore, is laid out on our main roof coatings page. Other work around town lives on the Coleman page.
What a white coat can and cannot do for a porch roof.
A coating renews the waterproof skin on a roof that is otherwise in fair shape. It closes the hairline cracks of age, seals the laps and screws, and reflects heat. On a porch roof that is mostly sound but has started to drip at the seams, that is often exactly the right amount of work.
It cannot fix structure. If panels are bent, if the framing has sagged so water collects in a low belly, or if wet insulation is trapped under the metal, a coating only hides the trouble for a season or two. Those problems get repaired or replaced first, and your quote says so in plain words.
One more thing worth knowing up front. A coating is never patched the way shingles are. When it eventually wears thin, it gets cleaned and recoated over the first layer, and how long your system should go before that happens is written into the quote.
Heat, glare and the shade under the carport.
Bare aluminum and dark weathered roofing both soak up afternoon sun, and on a porch that heat radiates straight down onto the chairs, the grill and whoever is sitting there. A white surface sends most of it back up. People usually feel the difference under the porch during the first hot week after the job.
The trade is glare. A fresh white roof is bright, and if a window or a neighbor’s porch looks out over it, you will notice that brightness around midday. It stays light as it weathers. We bring it up at the roof check so nobody is caught off guard the first clear morning.
The same reasoning applies to a flat-roofed shed or an equipment shelter where tools, feed or machinery sit out the summer. A cooler roof is easier on whatever is stored underneath it, and on whoever has to work in there.
Repairs
When the porch roof needs fixing before it gets coated.
Some roofs we climb are ready for coating today. Others need a repair first, and a few need to come off. These are the signs we look for.
- Low spots that hold water. A sagging rafter or a bent panel makes a pond, and standing water wears on any coating. The framing gets corrected first.
- A tie-in that leaks. If water gets in where the porch meets the main roof, that flashing gets rebuilt before the coat goes on.
- Corrosion through the metal. Surface chalking coats fine. A panel with holes in it gets replaced.
- Screws that will not hold. Stripped holes take a larger fastener or a fresh spot before sealing.
- Wet underneath. Trapped moisture gets opened up and dried or replaced, because coating over it seals the water in.
- The main roof is the real culprit. If the shingle roof is what is dripping onto the porch, we tell you, and the coating waits its turn.
Leaks that trace back into the house are covered on our Coleman leak repair page, and porch roofs attached to manufactured homes are on the manufactured home roofing page. When the shingles themselves are worn out, see asphalt shingle roofing, and for a whole new panel roof, metal roof installation.
How a coating job runs, first look to cure.
Tell us
Let the owner know which porch or carport is giving you trouble.
Inspect
Laps, screws, tie-ins and soft spots checked and photographed.
Quote
Repairs and coating on separate lines, so you see what each one does.
Prep and coat
Wash, seal, prime where needed, then the white goes on.
Look it over
Once it cures, we walk the result with you, photos in hand.
A short run up from our shop in Bushnell.
Coleman is roughly ten minutes from our shop, so a single carport roof is a job we are glad to take, and it gets a real spot on the schedule. That closeness also helps on coating days, when the crew is watching the sky and timing the coat around the weather.
See what else we do in Coleman, or the rest of our Sumter County coverage.
Porch roof questions we hear from Coleman owners.
Is silicone or elastomeric better for a porch roof?
It comes down to drainage. Silicone handles water that sits for a while after a storm, which describes a lot of nearly flat porch roofs. Elastomeric does well where rain runs off cleanly and the surface needs to stretch and recover through hot days and cool nights. We choose after seeing your roof and give the reason in writing.
Can you coat over the old paint on an aluminum carport?
Usually, once the loose and flaking paint has been cleaned off. Paint that is chalky but still tight can often be primed and coated. Paint that lifts when you scrape it has to come off, because a coating only holds as well as the layer underneath it. We look closely at it during the roof check.
Can we still use the porch while you work?
Yes, apart from staying clear while the crew is working directly overhead. The roof itself needs dry weather to cure, so we watch the forecast and book the coat for a stretch without afternoon storms. Nobody walks on the finished surface until it has cured, and we let you know when that point has passed.
Will a coating stop my porch roof from leaking?
If the water gets in at a seam, a screw or a small crack in an otherwise sound roof, yes, since those get sealed during prep and then coated over. If it comes from a failed tie-in at the house wall or a sagging section that holds water, that gets repaired first. Your quote spells out which is which.
What happens when the coating wears thin?
It gets cleaned and coated again, right over the first layer. That is the normal upkeep for these systems, and it is a far smaller job than replacing the roof. Have someone look it over every few years, and after any rough storm season, so thin spots get caught while the metal underneath is still covered.
Point us at the porch roof that drips.
Call, and the owner will set up a free roof check on the porch, carport or shed you are worried about. You can also send the details through our contact page or look through coating jobs in the gallery.
(352) 457-4472Describe the roof
Name, number and which roof is bothering you. The owner calls back himself.