Our commercial metal roof coating work in Lexington starts with rust primer and sealed screws and laps, then a topcoat over every panel so the roof sheds water as one surface.
Metal roofs that qualify share three things: solid panels, tight attachment, and rust that stays on the surface. Compare yours with the two cards.
Replacing a few sheets and coating the whole roof is a common middle path. A full tear-off is for widespread rust-through or weak framing.
These six spots account for most of the leaks we trace on Lexington R-panel and standing seam roofs.
Sunlight bakes the rubber washer under each screw head until it cracks. The screw still looks tight, yet water runs down the shank. A large R-panel roof holds thousands of screws, which is why fastener work is a big share of the labor.
Across the slope, an upper sheet overlaps a lower one, and on shallow roofs rain backs up under that lap. Grit and rust collect inside, and the drip shows up several feet downslope from where the water gets in.
Orange halos around fastener heads mean water has sat at the hole for a while. Light rings clean up with a wire brush and primer. Scale that flakes away needs a look from inside the building too.
NWS Louisville recorded minus 7 degrees at Lexington on January 21, 2024, and 64 degrees four days later. Swings like that stretch and shrink long panel runs, so the coating at seams and screws has to stay flexible.
Raised seams can unlatch along part of a run, and clips let panels slide as temperatures change. We check each run, reseat what lifted, and keep the coating at the seams elastic enough to follow that movement.
Older translucent panels yellow and crack at their laps. They also become a fall hazard during roof work, so panels that stay in service get screens and careful masking against overspray.
Every metal roof gets a rust-inhibiting primer matched to the panel. The topcoat over it is chosen by drainage, foot traffic, and the weather window.
Bright white and water-based, acrylic fits metal roofs with enough pitch to shed rain quickly. It needs warm, dry days to cure, and it breaks down where water stands at end laps.
Low-pitch panels that hold water at laps and gutters take silicone, which resists standing water and sun. Plan on silicone again for later recoats, since most other coatings bond poorly to it.
Tough under boots and dropped tools, urethane goes on the paths to rooftop units and service areas, often as a base under another topcoat.
Closed-cell foam levels the ribs, buries every fastener, and adds insulation before a protective topcoat. It raises the roof edge, so gutters and eave trim need new details.
Four changes owners notice after a metal roof is coated, set against the problems they had before.
Fastener and lap work takes most of the calendar. Spraying goes fast once prep is done.
Each panel run gets walked and photographed: screw heads, washers, side and end laps, skylights, ridge caps, and gutters. We check for flex between purlins and look up from inside where insulation is stained.
Chalk, dirt, mildew, and white rust come off with a pressure wash and a cleaner matched to the coating. A rag wipe on a washed panel shows whether chalk residue is still there.
Red rust at fastener heads, laps, and eaves gets wire-brushed or ground to tight rust, then sealed with a rust-inhibiting primer once the panels are completely dry.
Backed-out screws are swapped for oversized fasteners, every head gets sealant or a coating cap, and laps get fabric or butyl-backed tape set into the base coat.
Base and top coats cover the full field, with extra thickness at curbs, pipe boots, and ridge caps. Skylights that stay are masked so overspray never dulls them.
Some metal roofs need a different topcoat or a foam layer. These three come up most on Lexington jobs.
Pick silicone when end laps or box gutters still hold water a day after rain, since acrylic wears out where water stands.
Silicone roof coating in Lexington
Steeper barn and shop roofs that shed water fast are where water-based acrylic earns its place, with low odor for people working inside.
Acrylic roof coating in Lexington
Heated buildings that drip condensation under the panels gain insulation and one continuous layer when foam goes over the metal first.
Spray foam roofing in LexingtonQuestions owners ask us about R-panel and standing seam roofs in Lexington.
It adds a continuous rubbery skin over the panels, laps, and screw heads. That skin seals the joints where leaks start, keeps water and oxygen off rusting steel, and, in white or a light color, reflects sun to cool the panel surface. The steel still carries the load; the coating protects its face.
Rust depth and panel strength decide. Light rust and a few leaking screws call for a coating. Many backed-out screws, leaking end laps, and cracked skylights call for a restoration with fastener and lap work. Isolated rust-through means re-paneling those sheets; widespread rust-through or weak purlins means replacement.
White rust is the zinc layer breaking down, usually where water sits at laps and low ribs, and it gets cleaned off so primer bonds. Red rust is the steel itself corroding; it gets brushed or ground back to tight rust and sealed with a rust-inhibiting primer.
Daily expansion and contraction of the panels works screws loose over the years, and sun hardens the rubber washers until they crack. Look for heads standing above the panel, rust rings, and stained insulation under fastener rows. Oversized screws bite fresh metal and get sealed before coating.
Both get repaired before coating so the roof drains as one surface. Worn skylight panels are replaced, coated over to close off daylight, or screened if they stay. Ridge caps get new closures, sealed fasteners, and reinforced laps, because wind-driven rain often enters there.
Kentucky temperature swings keep long panel runs moving, and stiff paint cracks at every screw and seam as they do. An elastomeric coating stretches with the steel. A walk each spring catches any split at screws or ridge caps while it is still small.
Send the roof size and leak spots, or call to talk through rust, screws, and laps.
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