Questions RE: elastometric roof coating

[macmad]

I have owned a 93 14X60 for about a year now, and I have a need to coat the roof. As a preface I have the repair manual from this site, and I have done some searching, but there are still a couple of questions that I have.

The home does NOT have any coating on it now, but it does have silicone in areas due to prior leaks. I realize that I will need to remove all traces of this as it does not play nice with elastometric coatings.

1/3 of the roof has surface rust. I am assuming that this will need to be removed. Is that correct, and what has worked well for others in the past to remove this besides metal sanding paper and blocks?

Is there a technique for coating near the edges besides using a brush in order to not clog up the mini-gutters. (Quite useless little buggers) LOL.

Any bits of wisdom that I have missed in searches would be wonderful, but then again you don't know what bits of wisdom I have picked up here, so any wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

I have done some of the typical repairs on the home. New exterior door, new plumbing fixtures and sinks, etc. I am going to tackle a couple of soft spots in the subfloor this winter.

[macmad]

Oh, I saw the recommendation for Tremco Vulkem 116, and I would need to order it which is no problem, but is there any recommended polyurethane sealants that can be found at Home Depot or Lowes?

[bobfather99]

You could try using a rust convertor on your surface rusted panels. Scrape off any loose paint and dirt and just brush/spray it on. Wait until the rusty areas turn black and you should be good. Give the rusty areas a second application to make sure you get everything taken care of.

Should be easier than sanding!!!

[JD]

I have used rust converters before and they are awesome. It could get a bit pricey doing a 1/3 of a roof, but probably your best bet at stopping the rust.

Another option would be to coat the rust area with Super Elasto-Barrier from Ames Research Roofing Products. http://www.amesresearch.com/roof_coatings.htm You need to remove any flaky rust, all dirt etc. A pressure washer works great for this as long as you aren't blasting off any pieces of old coating. Since you said that there are no coatings, this is ideal.

Be sure to use a seam tape to cover edges of any vents, cooler jacks and the ridge cap on double wides. Ames research sells plain seam tape and a self stick seam tape, which is similar to Eternabond (maybe not quite as good, but good stuff). Either works, but the self stick is much easier as well as more pliable for vents and such. The plain tape is just a polyester mesh. When trying to go around plumbing vents or over large lumps of stuff, you have to be careful not to create air pockets under the mesh. It takes lot of relief cuts and small pieces usually. Basically, it is like doing a paper mache project.

Only the roof edges, vents and ridge cap (on a double wide) need to be coated to stop leaks. Painting the entire roof surface will reflect off a lot of sun, but goes nothing to stop leaks.

The key to a good job is in the cleaning. Even after a good pressure wash, I will still lacquer thinner wipe all edges before applying sealants.

I have tried other tube sealants on roofs, but I have not found anything that will perform as well as Vulkem 116. But if you are looking for a different product, I would look for a polyurethane roof flashing sealant. They will hold up better to the UV rays. I think butyl rubber flashing sealants would work well too, but I do not use them very often.

[macmad]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the great information. Knowledge is the biggest part of the battle.