Roof Coat

[Kwajdiver]

My roof coat is in terrible shape.  Before I repaint the bus I need to correct this first.
I'm guessing pressure wash it well, then recoat.
The question is, what is the best coating?  Who has had good success with what brand?
How was it applied?  Rolling it would be the easiest way.

I put an ad on Craig's list for a weekend automotive painter. Now I have more painters than I can handle.

All suggestions welcome!

Thank you.

Bill Williamson
This Coach is for sale!

[Eric]

Ive used kool seal and ....don't remember was in one of my previous post.. Lol

Kool seal worked well on our s&s units...tons of data archived on here though just use the search bar button not the easy google bar...

Have fun !

Eric

[wagwar]

I'm applying this to my roof this week. I can already tell it makes a big difference in interior temps. Much cooler inside and you can rest your hand on the roof in direct sun. I used their Aqua-Primer, Bus-Kote and Flexi-Clear. It is all water clean up and non-toxic.

http://hytechsales.com/

[Kwajdiver]

I like it.  What are you figuring it will take, 2 or 3 gallons for two coats?

Bill

[Midwilshire]

I'm applying this to my roof this week. I can already tell it makes a big difference in interior temps. Much cooler inside and you can rest your hand on the roof in direct sun. I used their Aqua-Primer, Bus-Kote and Flexi-Clear. It is all water clean up and non-toxic.

http://hytechsales.com/

I'm doing this next month, too.  Glad to hear it's a good choice. 

Now that you've used it, do you think this is enough for a 35' bus?

• 1 Gallon Aqua-Primer
• 5 Gallons Bus-Kote
• 2 Gallons Flexi-Clear

Thanks....

[Kwajdiver]

Looking at the HyTech website, you may be able to get by with 2 or 3 gallons to coat you bus.

Bill

[wagwar]

I'm doing the entire roof, the top half of the back of the bus and the top and sides of a slide room. I probably bought too much paint, but I would still go with their recs.

2 gal.: primer
6 gal: Bus Kote
6 gal: Flexi Clear (they recommended 2 coats of this).

However, I had 1/2 gal of primer, 1.5 gal. of Bus Kote left over. I have not applied the Flexi Clear yet. I'll post the leftover here when I'm done.

[Kwajdiver]

Take a few photos of before, during and after.
Really will be interested how it works out.

Thanks,

Bill W.

[wagwar]

btw: I have a 40' bus, raised roof and large fiberglass 'new-look' front and rear caps.

For a 35' bus, I think your numbers are about right. You might only need 4 gal. of the Bus Kote. I applied it heavy with a 3/4" nap roller and I still had some left over.

The nice thing about some leftover is you start thinking about other areas that might use some insulation.

[wagwar]

pics on all of the mods for my bus are on:

www.mightybus.wordpress.com

Pics of the roof will be up soon.

Sorry, I'll change my signature to include the blog.

[Kwajdiver]

Jim,

I have a MCI-9 with new caps front and back.  I only wish I had a raised roof.
So your telling me you used 4 gallons?  Guess I better order another gallon.

Bill

[wagwar]

Yes, I used 4 - 4 1/2 gal. out of six gal. of the Bus-Kote. Two coats with a 3/4" nap roller. I applied the second coat as heavy as possible. The roller gives it a nice 'suede' look with some texture, so it is not flat.

I bought too much Flexi-Clear as I estimate I have 2 1/2 gal out of 6 gal. leftover. I applied two coats of the clear with a 1/4" nap roller and it is much thinner than the bus kote. I applied the second coat as heavy as I could and still keeping it uniform thickness. The clear coat really adds to the overall look. Pics to be posted soon on the blog.

Total coats: one Aqua-Primer, two Bus-Kote, two Flexi-Clear. It is a lot of hard work, especially the prep. I had to remove two 3" wide vinyl stripes that ran end to end on both sides of the bus. Four days on a scaffold with a hot air gun and a chisel. DA sand everything, wipe it all down with cleaner/degreaser and then start painting. One coat takes me a day to apply. If you can do it indoors, do it! I had to do it outside. The paint attracts bugs and tree debris. I was constantly blowing the roof off and wiping it down. I still have some 'debris' stuck in the finish. Maybe I'm slow...

The good part of having paint leftover is I started thinking about other parts of the bus that could use some paint.

But the finished product is great! In full sun on an 80 degree day, the roof top actually feels cool to the touch. One other benefit - this roof will NEVER leak. If you need to drill any holes do it before you paint and you'll have one seamless elastic roof coat. No way to ever leak.

I estimate my total sq. ft to be 410. I doubled that to estimate my paint requirements for two coats. Generally, I found the paint goes farther than the specs. The porosity of the surface will have much to do with the coverage you get. On a bus roof that is very smooth and flat, the paint goes further.

[Oonrahnjay]

  (snip) But the finished product is great!  (snip) 

     This is a task/project that I've been trying to delay for a while; alas, 'twill be harder to do so now.  Thank you so much for the very helpful and positive feedback.  One question, I have something like "fibreglass caps" front and rear with a plain sheet aluminum roof structure.  Does this material seal between the metal and a fiberglass section, and is it OK to use directly on the fiberglass (I do have some little cracks near the join between the metal sheets and the fiberglass that may be giving me some problems).

     Wonderful words -- "this roof will NEVER leak"; so happy to hear that.   Thanks again.

     

[wagwar]

I also have the fiberglass caps front and rear. Consider this a top coat to your existing roof (metal and fiberglass). So, if you have loose paint, cracks in the caulk or other potential leakage you have to fix that first before you put this on top of everything. The paint job is only as good as the prep you give it. Given you have taken  care of those issues, then you can put this on the fiberglass and metal roof. I used their primer with their ceramic insulation additive that I mixed in myself, if you use some other primer, I'd ask Hy Tech about compatibility. I hope that helps.

[Oonrahnjay]

I also have the fiberglass caps front and rear. Consider this a top coat to your existing roof (metal and fiberglass). So, if you have loose paint, cracks in the caulk or other potential leakage you have to fix that first before you put this on top of everything. The paint job is only as good as the prep you give it. Given you have taken  care of those issues, then you can put this on the fiberglass and metal roof. I used their primer with their ceramic insulation additive that I mixed in myself, if you use some other primer, I'd ask Hy Tech about compatibility. I hope that helps.

    Very good info - thanks again!  (I was anticipating a fair amount of prep.  My bus was built with a system of roof vents, baffled into screened vents in the upstairs ceiling.  Those vents had a sheet metal external cover and these were torn up (I'm guessing by tree limbs) before I got the bus and there was a fair amount of water leakage from them.  Since I'm right at the US/Canada 13/6 limit anyway, it seemed a good idea to just take those 6 external baffles off and seal the vents.  The only flaw was that I'd hired a couple of kids (well, 20-somethings anyway) to help do clean up on my bus and they said that they could remove the old damaged pieces, clean up the surfaces, make the sheet patches, seal them up and rivet them, so I agreed to let them go ahead.  I got busy with some other task and when I came back, I found them walking and sitting on the roof - some of the panels were permanently oil-canned and there were some panel joints that had been "eye-lid" gapped open, and there were some cracked rivet holes.  I don't think that any of the pieces of the roof are damaged enough to need replacement, but - yeah - I'm in line for plenty of time on the scaffolds doing a LOT of prep!  With all this ahead of me, the info you've given is especially helpful.)

    With the above in mind, I've been thinking that I'll need to shoot some caulk-type sealer in the "eyelid" gaps.  I'll write Hy Teck about a compatible sealant to go under the primer and sealer coat.