Review on 🏠 CoolCoat Roof Coating - 1 Gallon, White: Dicor RP-IRC-1 for Effective Roof Protection by Sean Bond

I finished this work yesterday. My RV's roof is approximately 10 feet by 18 feet (180 square feet), minus the area occupied by the air conditioner, bathroom fan, refrigerator vent, and other vents. A gallon of this says it will make two coats for about 120 square feet so I bought two gallons thinking I might have enough for a third coat. (I also bought two bottles of the obligatory soapy water to prepare the activator). We started our work around 9:30am by taping the plastic wrap around the entire perimeter of the van and I think I sprayed soapy water to get the activator ready about an hour later. I should probably tell you something about the condition of our roof at this point. This roof is 15 years old and has never been repaired as far as I know. While there were no cracks or damage, the roof was so dilapidated that the previous light colored rubber lining was almost completely gone and the roof was much more black (rubber?) than white! As I climbed onto the roof, the black roofing material deteriorated so much that the top layer was mostly black powder, which immediately clung to my sweaty hands and quickly got onto my shoes and clothes. (I should have put on gloves before going up the stairs!) I sprayed on the activator and let it dry for about twenty-five minutes before using the pressure washer. The activator combined with a pressure washer resulted in almost all of the old roofing being washed away with lots of gunpowder. I let the roof dry for about an hour before proceeding with the cold coat. I used a new roller for each coat of this product, taking about an hour to dry between coats. My temperature was around 78 degrees and the humidity around 45%, which apparently did a good job of helping the cooling coating feel dry to the touch in an hour. The first layer lasted about 3/4 gallon. The second used about 1/2 gallon. About 1/3 of the third layer is used up. Got four good coats and finished about an hour before sunset in mid-July. Today I walked on the roof and had no problems drying. A few tips: Don't use the paint tray. Simply pour straight from the can onto the roof. The tray is another thing that can get in the way, fall off the roof, or otherwise cause problems. That being said, my next tip is to not water too much at once. Working on a black roof in direct sunlight resulted in the material drying almost instantly! In some cases it was too dry to spread on the roof within minutes of pouring! Another tip: although this product is water-based and you can clean the same roller after each shift, I've instead chosen to just purchase additional rollers ahead of time and use a new one each time. A thorough cleaning of the roller requires a lot of water and we suffer from water shortages where I live so this is the reason for my choice. I tried wrapping the used roller in plastic to store for the next coat of paint, but nothing good came of it. I also recommend wearing rubber gloves, but I'm not sure I find this step necessary, other than maybe the non-water based activator. Another tip: While on the roof, I found some cracks in the old putty that was originally used along the seams to seal screw holes and such. I wish I could go there maybe two weeks earlier. That would give me time to order a few tubes of dicor self leveling caulk and maybe do it a week early as a separate job. As it is, I'll do it later as a separate work now. As for the effectiveness of the cooling cover, I can say without a doubt that the inside of my van is definitely cooler than it was on a day like today! However, I compare the cold roof with the previous black roof. I don't know how big the difference can be between a cold coated roof and a traditional Dicor roof or between a cold coated roof and an RV roof that still has a lot of the old coating on. And one final piece of advice: either do plastic wrap better than us, or skip this step altogether. We spent an hour taping it up, but that doesn't compare to a pressure washer! We ended up doing an emergency wash of the RV after washing off the activator because this black liquid goo was dripping down the sides of the RV like the plastic wasn't even there. And I shudder to imagine how much more difficult this job would have been if we hadn't taken it on immediately. This black liquid mess was solid enough to wash off while still wet! All in all I am satisfied with the result. I can already feel the temperature difference and I know the roof needs an update that this coating provides. UPDATE: It's been a month and I'm preparing the trailer for the trip. I climbed the stairs to make sure there was no debris in the little gutters and that obviously led me to where I could see the roof. Instead of the clean and spotless new roof I was expecting, I was horrified to see my new roof had blisters! Most are the size of a dime, but some are the size of a tea saucer! By gently pressing it down, it becomes clear that these are bubbles with air pockets. I found one under a vent cover I was experimenting with and it easily opened fully revealing the original roof under a few coats of this product I had applied. I don't know how it happened. I used the Essential Spray Primer and thought I followed the directions for that product as directed. And it looked good when I was done with the work. But now it looks terrible and obviously won't last long. If I return to the campsite under a low hanging branch, these fragile bubbles are sure to burst! I think that means I have to remove all those expensive coatings and completely redo this job with a different product. Unfortunately it looks like this work was a waste of my time and money and I had to decline my review.