Elastomeric Coatings & Flexible Fire Protection for Varied Applications

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ing is found in facil­i­ties across a vari­ety of indus­tries and the first choice of own­ers and design­ers for a wide vari­ety of long-term main­te­nance ben­e­fits. If you plan to use this mate­r­i­al on your roof, wall, or deck, this arti­cle pro­vides every­thing you need to know about these mate­ri­als and their applications.

What Is Elas­tomer­ic Coat­ing?

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are liq­uids that cure into flex­i­ble, seam­less, rub­ber-like mem­branes. The resul­tant mem­branes pro­vide robust pro­tec­tion spe­cif­ic to the set­tings in which they are uti­lized. They can stretch to at least twice their orig­i­nal size and return to their orig­i­nal shape with­out crack­ing or los­ing adhe­sion. This extreme flex­i­bil­i­ty makes Elas­tomer­ic’s ide­al for envi­ron­ments sub­ject to sig­nif­i­cant ther­mal con­trac­tion and expan­sion, con­stant move­ment, or vibration. 

When prop­er­ly matched to the sur­face, elas­tomer­ic coat­ings can cre­ate an air­tight, water­proof seal or bridge hair­line cracks, thus pre­vent­ing mois­ture infil­tra­tion and sub­se­quent sub­strate degra­da­tion. Dur­ing appli­ca­tion, mem­brane thick­ness can be increased with mul­ti­ple pass­es, and this thick­er, durable water­proof sur­face is ide­al for seal­ing roof leaks. 

Types of Elas­tomer­ic Coat­ings

There are var­i­ous types of elas­tomer­ic coat­ings, but the three most wide­ly used types are acrylic, sil­i­cone, and urethane. 

Acrylic:

This type of elas­tomer­ic coat­ing is high­ly durable but does not with­stand water-pool­ing as well as its coun­ter­parts. When used on roofs, acrylic elas­tomer­ic coat­ing works best on sur­faces with bet­ter drainage. It is also more reflec­tive and con­tains a high num­ber of solids, offer­ing bet­ter UV pro­tec­tion. Addi­tion­al­ly, it can deter mildew and mold growth. 

Sil­i­cone:

Sil­i­cone resin-based coat­ings con­tain approx­i­mate­ly 90% or more solids. A high sol­id con­tent means the con­trac­tors need not use more mate­r­i­al to achieve the desired thick­ness. The com­po­si­tion of a sil­i­cone elas­tomer­ic coat­ing offers high UV-resis­tance, with­stands dam­age from water-pool­ing, and lasts longer than its coun­ter­parts. How­ev­er, this type of elas­tomer­ic coat­ing requires rou­tine main­te­nance. It should be reg­u­lar­ly cleaned, as it attracts dirt eas­i­ly and los­es reflec­tiv­i­ty if not washed. It is also slip­pery when wet. 

Ure­thane:

Also called polyurethane, ure­thane elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are more durable than their coun­ter­parts. Their dura­bil­i­ty makes them suit­able for sur­faces with water-pool­ing and above-aver­age foot traf­fic. This type of coat­ing can with­stand ther­mal con­trac­tion and expan­sion. On the down­side, ure­thane elas­tomer­ic coat­ings can be dif­fi­cult to install and require pro­fes­sion­al tools and expertise.

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are either water-based or sol­vent-based. Water-based types are wide­ly used over met­al. They are also easy to install, mak­ing them ide­al for DIY­ers. In con­trast, sol­vent-based elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are typ­i­cal­ly used on sur­faces exposed to envi­ron­men­tal conditions. 

Elas­tomer­ic Coat­ings for Fire Pro­tec­tion

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings pro­tect facil­i­ties against mois­ture and water infil­tra­tion, but water isn’t the only ele­ment that can dam­age a facil­i­ty. Fire is always a poten­tial threat, and one first step in pre­ven­tion is imple­ment­ing fire­proof­ing into your building’s design. A fire­proof­ing strat­e­gy is not only impor­tant for the safe­ty of its occu­pants and oth­er assets but also for com­pli­ance pur­pos­es. Most of the elas­tomer­ic coat­ings on the mar­ket are designed for water­proof­ing, but there are sev­er­al prod­ucts spe­cial­ly for­mu­lat­ed to pro­vide fire retar­dant prop­er­ties. An exam­ple is Acry­max elas­tomer­ic fire-retar­dant roof coat­ing, which includes alu­mi­na tri­hy­drate. Alu­mi­na tri­hy­drate has ther­mo­dy­nam­ic prop­er­ties that enable it to act as a smoke sup­pres­sant and fire retardant. 

Ben­e­fits of Elas­tomer­ic Coat­ings

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are wide­ly used in indus­tri­al set­tings for many rea­sons. Some of the ben­e­fits include: 

Ener­gy Effi­cien­cy

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are a great option for busi­ness­es that want to go green and save mon­ey on ener­gy bills. This coat­ing is high­ly reflec­tive and UV-resis­tant, essen­tial­ly act­ing as a round-the-clock ​“sun­block” for your facil­i­ty. Since the facil­i­ty absorbs less heat, the HVAC sys­tem is not forced to oper­ate con­tin­u­ous­ly to main­tain the building’s inte­ri­or envi­ron­ment. Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings may help insu­late your facil­i­ty and pre­vent heat loss in win­ter, pro­mot­ing ener­gy effi­cien­cy and util­i­ty cost savings. 

Weath­er Resis­tance

As men­tioned, elas­tomer­ic coat­ings pre­vent mois­ture infil­tra­tion. After ful­ly cured, the coat­ing forms a durable, water­proof mem­brane, which is cru­cial for pro­tect­ing assets from irre­versible water dam­age. Fur­ther, the coat­ing’s UV-resis­tant prop­er­ties pre­vent degra­da­tion of the mate­r­i­al after pro­longed sun­light exposure. 

Dura­bil­i­ty and Longevi­ty

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings’ strong com­po­si­tion allows them to last longer than oth­er coat­ings. With prop­er prepa­ra­tion and appli­ca­tion, a ful­ly func­tion­al mem­brane can be expect­ed to last ten years or longer. How­ev­er, reg­u­lar inspec­tion and main­te­nance are nec­es­sary to get the most out of this coat­ing. This long lifes­pan can save your facil­i­ty mon­ey since there will be no need for fre­quent recoats. 

Cov­er­ing Hair­line Cracks

Aside from being unsight­ly, hair­line cracks allow mois­ture to pen­e­trate a sub­strate. In the case of rebar-strength­ened pours such cracks can lead to cor­ro­sion of steel rein­force­ment bars in con­crete. In this type of sit­u­a­tion, soon­er is bet­ter, so repair­ing the cracks before they get big­ger is impor­tant. Typ­i­cal­ly, you need to repair the cracks before apply­ing a coat­ing. Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings, on the oth­er hand, can bond hair­line cracks. Their high elon­ga­tion prop­er­ties allow the coat­ings to stay intact over hair­line cracks. After apply­ing the coat­ing, you won’t even notice the cracks. 

Adher­ence

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings adhere to almost every sur­face. Orig­i­nal­ly for­mu­lat­ed to pro­tect stuc­co, they are com­pat­i­ble with a wide range of build­ing mate­ri­als, includ­ing con­crete sur­faces, built-up roof­ing, and even log sidings. 

Dis­ad­van­tages of Elas­tomer­ic Coat­ings

Although elas­tomer­ic coat­ings offer a pletho­ra of ben­e­fits, they are con­di­tions and con­sid­er­a­tions to take into account before a final deci­sion. For exam­ple, ini­tial cost is high­er than oth­er coat­ings, although this is often off­set by the mate­ri­al’s long lifes­pan and poten­tial ener­gy sav­ings. Anoth­er dis­ad­van­tage is the com­plex­i­ty of the appli­ca­tion. Depend­ing upon the manufacturer’s rec­om­men­da­tions elas­tomer­ic coat­ings may require spe­cial­ized appli­ca­tion equip­ment and tech­niques, so you must hire experts to guar­an­tee qual­i­ty results. 

Elas­tomer­ic Coat­ing Uses

Elas­tomer­ic coat­ings are ver­sa­tile and often used for: 

Roof­ing: Elas­tomer­ic roof coat­ings offer excel­lent pro­tec­tion against mois­ture dam­age and can reduce heat and extend the roof’s lifespan. 

Walls: Elas­tomer­ic wall coat­ings can be applied indoors and out­doors. They’re a great choice for giv­ing your office space a new look while ensur­ing it can hold up to the traffic. 

Decks: Elas­tomer­ic deck coat­ings cre­ate a flex­i­ble, water­proof bar­ri­er, pro­tect­ing wood from mois­ture and abra­sion. They can also con­ceal minor imper­fec­tions, result­ing in a more seam­less appearance. 

Need to Fire­proof a Facil­i­ty? We’ve Got You Covered 

Fire­proof­ing is a must. Fire can cause a great deal of dam­age to a prop­er­ty and even claim pre­cious lives. A pas­sive fire pro­tec­tion sys­tem, such as fire-resis­tant paints or coat­ings, slows the spread of fire and allows occu­pants more time to escape. In addi­tion, these sys­tems are required to stay com­pli­ant with rel­e­vant rules and regulations. 

If your facil­i­ty has not imple­ment­ed fire-resis­tant coat­ings for safe­ty or com­pli­ance pur­pos­es, now is the time to install them. At Kaloutas, we offer a range of coat­ings, includ­ing intu­mes­cent paint coat­ings and elas­tomer­ic coatings. 

Want to learn more about your fire­proof­ing options and our ser­vices? Call 978−532−1414 to talk to the Kaloutas staff.