replace or recoat tin roof?

[MichaelNEIowa]

I have a 38 year old tin roof on one of my sheds and it is starting to get pretty rusty.

I"m debating whether it is better to coat the roof or to replace it.

Roof in gray galvanized color and would like to repaint/coat it with something white. Any recommendations on which product works best?

How much life will such coatings give?

Is it better to reroof?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Mike, I've coated several galvinized roofs with aluminum colored emultion coating and it will last an average of 10 years or so. Only longer term solution is to reroof with aluminum roofing.

 

[JBMac]

I had a guy stop by with a rig in the back of truck wanting to do mine. He said he was traveling around looking for work. I was very skeptacle but he seemed like a nice guy and didn"t want a dime till he was done. Charged me $400 to coat the whole thing and tighten any loose areas. This was on a 3000 sq. ft. workshop. Turned out great, he did a good, all leaks are gone for now. He said it would last 10 years. And, I didn"t have to risk falling off the roof and wasting a whole weekend. Just my $.02

 

[1936]

Here is one. Had the Amish remove the tin and put the good side up.

 

[JDemaris]

They get recoated here in New York. It's certainly cheaper. My house has a metal roof on it with soldered seams and is over 100 years old.
Same with my two old barns both built around 1850. I coated them all about 15 years ago and they're going to need it again soon.
The colored coatings are getting popular now - around here Cenpeco is the most popular. Since my new barns have red steel on them, I might do my old roofs to match.

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

Yeah my brother had one of those guys stop by.Started out asking about 800 bucks to paint a large barn roof.But since he had paint left over from a job he would do it for half price.Looked good when he finished.Rained a couple of days later,all the runoff from the roof (small amount of paint and gasoline)stopped the weeds from growing around it for awhile.He still gets hostile when i mention that barn!

 

[bva]

I would suggest that you leave it as rusty untill you can't tolerate it any more. Sorta funny how many years those rusty tin roof's last.Coating with anything puts you on a cycle of recoating it and the following coats aint easy.

 

[Paul from MI]

I have recoated mine twice with aluminized roof coating. Worst part of the job is mixing the stuff. Dries to a dull gray color and lasts 7-10 years. Lots cheaper than tin.
Paul

 

[IaGary]

This roof has been painted about 3 times since 1952. Thats when the tin was put on. First paint went on it in 1980. Last painting was last summer. Paint job last about 12 years.

I hire it done by a guy from Tenn. He uses alumium paint. Cost $900 last summer.

 

[ldj]

Am I missing something? Tin is put on with the nails on the ridges. If you turn it over, wouldn't that put the nail holes in the valleys? It wouldn't be good to have nails in the valleys. It would also be bad to fill them and make new holes in the ridges. If everyone says I'm wrong, I'm going out tomorrow and get an old piece on tin and turn it over to see just where the holes will be.

 

[Gareth Mc]

The roof on my pole barn was in the identical situation about six years ago. So I visited the Morton building representative and he indicated they advised buying the paint from Sherwin Williams. They knew exactly what I needed, a commercial grade primer and paint each costing about $60 a gallon. We used wire cup brushes on angle grinders to remove the rust and get down to bare metal. Then we applied the white primer and finally two coats of the white top coat paint. Six years later and the barn still looks like new. Visit your Sherwin Williams representative.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Wash it with a phosphorous acid solution to neutralize the rust (same stuff in navel jelly), prime and paint. It is a little labor intensive but based on other's experiences it will last a long time. Everyone using this process has hired it done.

 

[colekicker]

I'd use the tar / aluminum paint. The tar will seal it up and the aluminum in it will help reflect sun.

 

[John A.]

Michael, I used an Aluminum roof coating w/ fibers in the solution. This stuff is great! I covered two old barn roofs, Solid rust! no old glaivanized left on the roofs at all. Also numerous little pin holes up to half the size of a # 2 pensil. This stuff has to be brushed on. they looked like new roofs, still they do not leak, They are needing to be re coated now, just do not look bad enough to do it yet. OBTW....the roofs were done in 1995.
The coating is jet black when you remove the lid. Then take electric drill and a stir rod to mix up the aluminum and fibers, then it takes on that aluminum color look. If your roof isn't too steep you can DIY! Only prep I did was use screws to secure any loose tin, No liquid primer or nothing.
My place is in Central Texas, So the hot sun hasn't hurt it much, LOL! Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.

 

[Bob Kerr]

yes the holes will be in the bottoms if you turn them over. I noticed today I put a sheet of tin on one of my wood stacks upside down. All the wood underneath was all stuck together from the rain getting in and rapid temp drop last night. I flipped it over today while I was rounding up two other sheets that blew off.