Selection Questions
What contractors ask when they are choosing between systems rather than shopping for one.
Choosing Between Systems
Can I use more than one product on the same roof?
Yes, and on most commercial roofs you should. The typical assembly is OR-80SLM across the field, OR7K at curbs and parapets, and FJ1 in the service walkways. Because they are all polyurea, anything applied inside the six-hour recoat window bonds chemically to what is already down — there is no interface between them, just a change in properties.
How do I decide between OR-80SLM and OR7K?
Scope, mostly. OR-80SLM is the full-roof membrane where the roof is the asset — commercial decks, metal buildings, foam-over assemblies, high-wind regions where Miami-Dade approval is relevant. OR7K is the waterproofing polyurea for details, transitions, gutters, and small structures. On a large roof you will usually use both.
When is Flak Jacket 1 actually necessary?
When something physical happens to the roof surface. Regular foot traffic to rooftop equipment, tool drops during service visits, a roof deck people use, or a building in a hail belt. It is specified zonally at 80–100 mil rather than across the whole plane, because paying for high-build in areas nobody touches is wasted money.
Why is Alasta Seal separate from the rest?
Because RV, camper, trailer, and manufactured-home roofs are a genuinely different structural problem — thin, light, and flexing continuously rather than seasonally. Alasta Seal was developed for that flex profile. Putting a stiffer full-roof membrane on a highway-going trailer stresses the bond line every mile.
Substrate & Primer
Do I need 7001 Primer on every substrate?
Nearly always, and it is the cheapest insurance on the job. The clear exception is properly blasted bare steel, where polyurea can go direct. Everything else — aluminum, TPO, EPDM, PVC, asphalt, concrete, wood, previously coated surfaces — should be primed. On aluminum it is mandatory, and on asphaltic roofs it is doing double duty as a bleed-block.
How do I know if an aged single-ply will take a coating?
Test it. Wash a representative area, prime it, spray a patch, let it cure, and pull it. Aged TPO and EPDM vary enormously depending on manufacturer, age, and exposure, and no data sheet can tell you what a specific twenty-year-old roof will do. Silicone-coated roofs are the hardest case and often need removal or aggressive abrasion.
When does the roof need spray foam instead of just a membrane?
Two triggers. If water stands on the roof, foam is how you re-slope it — a membrane over a ponding roof is still a ponding roof. And if the building has an energy or condensation problem, closed-cell foam adds continuous R-value with no thermal bridging at the fasteners, which a 60-mil membrane cannot do. On industrial roofs the foam-and-coat assembly is routine, not exotic.
What thickness should I specify?
As a starting point: 40–60 mil for metal, 50 mil over primed single-ply, 60 mil over asphaltic and over foam, 60–80 mil on concrete, and 80–100 mil for FJ1 traffic zones. Then adjust for exposure and expected service life. Send us the specifics and we will confirm the number rather than have you guess.
Estimating, Equipment & Buying
How do I calculate material for a mixed-product roof?
Everything in the range is 100% solids, so one gallon yields 1,604 mil-sq-ft regardless of which product it is. Divide by your target mils per zone, sum the zones, then add 10–15% for overspray, stripe passes, and surface irregularity — more on corrugated panel or foam, which have significantly more surface area than their plan dimension.
Is the whole range sprayed with the same equipment?
Yes. A plural-component proportioner with heated hose — Graco Reactor E-20 or E-30 class or equivalent — runs all of it. Foam requires the same machine class with different settings. Switching products between zones on a job is a material change, not an equipment change.
How does a liquid system compare in cost to tear-off and re-roof?
Restoration is typically a fraction of full replacement, and it avoids disposal, structural exposure, and business interruption. It also often qualifies as maintenance rather than capital expenditure. The honest limit: if the insulation is saturated or the deck is compromised, restoration is not a cheaper option — it is a different and wrong one.
Do you sell to contractors only, or to building owners as well?
Both. We ship nationwide to end users, contractors, and dealers, and we can refer building owners to a trained applicator. Contractors and distributors receive wholesale pricing — include your region and volume with your inquiry and we will attach the schedule.
Still Deciding Between Two Systems?
Give us the substrate, the traffic, and the climate and we will make the call with you — including the case for doing nothing yet.
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