A client reached out to William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC to ask about what we know about Roof Maxx after getting a quote from them to treat the 15 roofs the condo association has. The reserve study says that they have to replace the roofs in about 5 years and at the current rate of savings and the amount of money in the reserves, they will not have enough money to pay for a roof replacement. Their thought was that they would have the roofs “roof maxxed” (our term) and extend the life of their roofs so that they can continue to put money into reserves instead of having to pass a special assessment to replace the roofs.
Certainly this is a noble idea and one that is worth considering at the least. The client had met Roof Maxx at an HOA event and the sales person at the luncheon was certainly persuasive selling the supposed virtues of Roof Maxx to my client.
However, my client recalled that I had impressed them with my deep knowledge on roofing and waterproofing and trusted me to get them information that they weren’t getting from Roof Maxx. So I started doing a dive into this newer product on the market here in California for them.
I started by reviewing roofMaxx.com and reading what they were saying on the website. One thing that stuck out to me was it says scientifically proven to restore moisture to aging shingles… It also says that Roof Maxx met ASTM e108 class a fire resistant standards.
So I found a copy of a technical report, apparently written by the Ohio State University college of food, agricultural and environmental sciences pertaining to ASTM testing of roofmaxx. The report pertains to information regarding ASTM testing of roofmaxx and describes roofmaxx as a soy methyl Esther based water emulsion used on asphalt roofing shingles that restores flexibility and therefore extends the service life of the roof.
Interestingly, this report doesn’t say roofmax actually does something. Instead they use language such as “The improvement observed in the Roof Maxx treated samples suggests that roof Max improves the durability of asphalt shingles and their wind resistance.” In another section that tested granule adhesion, the statement was that “the average weight of displaced granules decreased 46% after treatment with Roof Maxx in comparison to an untreated shingle. This implies a significant improvement in granule adhesion…”
Relating to spread of flame testing the company retained to perform testing used their own proprietary test that “simulates ASTM e108 Class A spread of flame testing”. The report says “the test showed that there was no visual difference between the spread of flame and the untreated shingles and the roof Max treated shingles, suggesting that roof Max application does not increase fire risks.” PRI Construction Materials Technologies performed the testing for the Ohio soybean council not roofmax. There are ASTM protocols and several tests for testing shingles and a testing lab can select which ones they want to use. By doing so, they can possibly manipulate the results to give the client what they want to hear. One thing that concerns me is they did their own proprietary flame spread test instead of an ASTM e108 test. ASTM e108 is basically the industry’s only accepted method of determining if a roof is Class A, B or c rated. In the report results from their proprietary spread of flame test, it states “initial flame was more intense with the roof Max treated specimen even though the resultant flame spread was not appreciably different from the untreated specimen. Post testing, the plywood deck of the roofmaxx sustained a flame, whereas the untreated flame extinguished quickly upon removing the gas torches.” If the roofmaxxed shingles plywood decks sustain the flame after the torches were put out, then that indicates that in a real-life wildfire situation that could pose a problem for homes treated with roofMaxx in my opinion.
Other claims that are made on the roof Max website are difficult to support such as that roof Max can cost up to 80% less than the full cost of replacing a roof. That may be or it may be significantly less than that depending on many individual circumstances. They say the roofmax takes just a few hours while roof replacement often takes a week or more. That may be true once the roof is clean but cleaning the roof is an essential part of a roof Max application and that requires a roof to be soft washed thoroughly and then allowed to dry before applying the roof Max product. It is also essential to the success of the roof Max product that it be applied at 100 square feet per gallon. Some of the videos I’ve seen in their advertising show a guy just spraying stuff around all up and down the roof without any idea of what kind of coverage he’s getting.
The other item that I found from the asphalt roofing manufacturers Association is a technical bulletin titled “Coating of asphalt shingles after installation” revised April 2021, and they State there that many asphalt shingle manufacturers specifically do not recommend field coating of their shingles. Additionally, state or local building codes may prohibit this practice as the field applied coatings may negatively impact the performance characteristics, including fire classification, lift p resistance, impact resistance, etc. of the roof assembly. Some of the problems reported after asphalt shingle roofs have been field coated include shrinking of the coating, which may result in curling and or cupping of the shingles or loosening of the granule surfacing of the asphalt shingles. In addition, non-permeable roof coatings may create a vapor retarding layer by sealing the boys around in between the shingles. If this occurs, it may contribute to moisture accumulation within the roofing system. It goes on to say there is limited available documentation showing the extent to which field coating of asphalt shingles provides any of the benefits claimed, but their risk and concerns mentioned about remains very real. In summary, the application of a coating may be detrimental to asphalt shingles. Be sure to check with your asphalt shingle manufacturer before terminating a specific rose coating, particularly if there is any warranty left on your roof that could possibly be voided if you treated the roof. You should also check with your local building and zoning department if this application is allowed.
We advised the client of all of this and gave them a quote to perform a thorough review and evaluation of their roofs complete with a report and photographs of our findings. The reason we offered to do this is so that they have a independent expert who is not trying to sell them a roof or a roof coating, but instead giving them independent information that allows them to make a good decision on how to proceed on their roof problem.
Our opinion is that we would be very hesitant about spending money on the Roof Max product and we would provide guidance to our clients that they should evaluate the pros and cons very carefully before committing to a pie in the Sky dream that may blow up in their face. If we recall from a few years ago, there were many pipelining companies saying that they could fix HOA, condo buildings, leaky pipes without replacement and all those companies are gone now. We don’t see them at trade shows or pumping white coatings through pipes anymore. I predict that we’ll see Roof Maxx blow up as a scheme that doesn’t perform as it is sold.
Please reach out to us for a free quote on doing a roof evaluation of your condo buildings and let us help you develop a scope of work to put out to bid for repairs or replacements of your roofs. Call today 805-801-2380.
SB 326 Deck Inspections * Waterproofing Consultants * Construction Defect Investigations By Bill Leys The Deck Expert 