By: Mitch Hungerpillar, Home owner and guest author
I live in a family home located in Crestwood North in Birmingham, Alabama that my wife’s grandparents built in the mid 1930’s. As the 3rd and 4th generation to live in the home, we have a particular passion about maintaining its original architectural integrity. Our home is a brick English Tudor style with a metal roof manufactured by U.S. Steel that carries a lifetime warranty. The only real maintenance for the roof is cleaning and painting it for curb appeal.
We purchased our home in 1992 soon after we got married from the estate of my wife’s grandmother and have lived in it for almost 30 years while we raised our three sons. Soon after we purchased the home, we realized the roof needed some maintenance. Our research proved that all we needed was a good cleaning and a paint job. We hired a local painter, and let him prep and paint. It took nearly 2 weeks and looked fantastic…initially. The paint we used was a high-end commercial product from a local paint store. The painter used an air sprayer for almost 90 percent of the job and “cut-in” around the trim and edges. In less than three years, the paint started to degrade and peel.
A few years later, we searched for different painters and their opinion to stop the peeling and paint the roof. We settled on a painting company with good references who promised to fix the peeling. The painter used several methods including scraping, wire brushing and pressure-washing to prepare the surface. He spot-primed all the areas that were peeling and cleaned. He then hand brushed and rolled the entire roof. The paint he used was a high-end residential grade paint from a local paint store.
About 15 years later, the paint began to break down and flake. We noticed an abundance of discoloration and the curb appeal was declining. That is when I contacted Induron Coatings to visit and provide some professional advice.
Induron President Davies Hood scheduled an appointment and met with my wife. He asked a lot of questions and left. A few days later Davies contacted me and provided two options; an oil-based and a water-based solution. I selected AQUANAUT© II ACRYLIC ENAMEL solution, which we could apply with a roller, brush or air sprayer and clean up with warm water and soap.
After discussing the preparation requirements, we began searching for painters. We discovered an experienced metal roof painter named Tommy Dodson. Tommy has been painting metal roofs for at least 20 years. We told Tommy we were going to use a special protective coating manufactured by Induron Coatings as the paint. He was open to that idea and met with the customer service team at Induron to confirm his understanding of the preparation and application requirements. We established a firm price and agreement to begin the project.
Tommy spent several days pressure-washing and cleaning the roof metal surface. He was very conscious about the outside temperature to comply with all of Induron’s specifications. We wanted the roof paint job finished by Christmas, and it was already the end of November.
Tommy and his crew worked diligently to prime and paint the entire roof by roller and brush. He applied two coats of AQUANAUT© II ACRYLIC ENAMEL on top of the primer. The finished job is beautiful.! We were 98% complete by Christmas, so it was a wonderful family Christmas gift to all. Thank you Induron Team and Tommy Dodson Team for working to complete our roof job to our satisfaction! We hope this paint job will last us at least 20 years!