[Julie Rehmeyer]

My Promaster is a dark grey, which is pretty but tends to heat things up a lot. I'm thinking it might make sense to put a coat of white paint on the roof, which wouldn't ordinarily be visible anyway. Anyone have any experience with that? Is it a good idea? And if so, what kind of paint should I use?

 

[PopeAng]

Googled "white paint on buses"...they recently made a push to paint all roofs on the local school buses. From the looks of it, there is definitely a special kind of paint that works better than others.

This discussion board looks to be helpful.

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/poll-elastomeric-vs-white-paint-on-roof-11288.html

 

[Julie Rehmeyer]

That was super helpful! Thank you for finding it. My conclusion is that Henry Solar-Flex elastomeric paint is a good way to go, that more coats are better, and that it'll make a big difference for me. And that the beads are only mildly useful.

 

[Zoomyn]

I've been around Airstreams restoring them since 2003... The roof coating thing has been discussed hundreds of times and only one product name has stuck with me over the years, 'Super-therm'.

A long-distance buddy of mine ran a campground in Canada and wintered in South Florida and jumped through all the hoops to get Super-Therm and described it as ultra white whipped marshmallow creme. One of the key designs is to reflect ultraviolet, visual light and infrared energy, and it is an industrial coating made to weather pollution and all that rot. It is applied to bus roofs, trucks, trailers etc..

He was very happy with the choice - also, he used a different HSC-1000 insulating paint as an interior coating on the vertical sheet metal walls to protect the 0.032" 2024 aircraft aluminum as base coat to protect it from commercial spray foams' heat and heave action, that's buried around post 540 in his thread. Everything was perfect until a 4' wet snowfall collapsed the shell across where the door opening weakened the Airstreams eggshell strength, he collected the insurance and parted off the wreck.

There may be a hitch is getting it in small quantities, one sale for a 8-10 mil thickness coating for 70sqft does not interest their commercial sales people very much.

Least cheesy info sheet I could find: http://www.eaglecoatings.net/content/supertherm/pdfs/SUPER_THERM_vs_WHITE_%20PAINT.pdf

The US distributor: http://www.spicoatings.com/products_solutions/super_therm

Link to the Airstream project: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f537/shell-off-headroom-epiphany-79254-25.html#post1081700

Again, haven't used it myself but I've only heard good things about it.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

I have an elastomeric coating on the near flat roofs of the Santa Fe style Arizona home I built. The product is similar to Henry cool roof. This stuff is amazing for keeping the roof cool. When we first coated the roofs we put a tan walking deck on our garage. About 5 years later I went up to re-coat the main house and found it pleasant to walk on barefoot as I washed down the surface in preparation for the new layer. It was a sunny and pleasant 90º day. I made the mistake of crossing the short parapet wall onto the walking deck and literally scalded my feet with resulting blisters. If you are willing to coat the van roof this is the stuff. It also sticks to anything like stink on a skunk!
I use a product from these folks but Henry is fine.
http://pdiroofcoatings.com

 

[Winston]

My Promaster is a dark grey, which is pretty but tends to heat things up a lot. I'm thinking it might make sense to put a coat of white paint on the roof

You could do it our way - - plaster the top of your van with solar panels!

 

[keeponvaning]

Or... park in an air conditioned garage

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Here in AZ we put white on the roof.

 

[afox]

@RDinNHandAZ those PDI products appear to only be available in AZ, cant find them for sale anywhere.

Any opinions on a cheaper white roof coating than Henry's? For example:

Lanco 1 Gal. Ultra Siliconizer 100% Acrylic Elastomeric Reflective Roof Coating (Silicone-Modified)-RC905-4 - The Home Depot

Lanco - 1-Gallon Ultra Siliconizer Roof Sealer - Waterproof for immediate repelling of water. White. Adheres to conventional built-up roofs, polyurethane foam, concrete, metal, bonded tar, gravel and asphalt shingles. - THD SKU# 548858

www.homedepot.com

I regret getting a silver van, silver is very hot. Id recommned that anyone who gets a non-white van paint the roof immediately while its new and clean...

 

[WanderingWakes]

I used the Henry Tropi-Cool, but I did look at the data sheet and found this:

"...IMPORTANT: Even though Lanco® Ultra Siliconizer™ will resist standing water (for 50 hours), do not use on roofs with a slope less than 1/2 inch per foot. If used on roofs with slope less than 1/2 inch per foot, Warranty will be void. Roofs with less severe ponding areas and improper drainage will require annual maintenance and must be re‐coated yearly with an application of two coats of Lanco® Ultra Siliconizer™. ..."

Since the Promaster has areas that will hold water if the van is setting level, this may be an issue with this product. I contacted Henry's directly and was directed to the Tropi-Cool 100% silicone product, because one of their other products had a similar warning against standing water. Just something to consider....

This is a good price if the product works as well as Henry's Tropi-Cool.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

@RDinNHandAZ those PDI products appear to only be available in AZ, cant find them for sale anywhere.

Any opinions on a cheaper white roof coating than Henry's? For example:

Lanco 1 Gal. Ultra Siliconizer 100% Acrylic Elastomeric Reflective Roof Coating (Silicone-Modified)-RC905-4 - The Home Depot

Lanco - 1-Gallon Ultra Siliconizer Roof Sealer - Waterproof for immediate repelling of water. White. Adheres to conventional built-up roofs, polyurethane foam, concrete, metal, bonded tar, gravel and asphalt shingles. - THD SKU# 548858

www.homedepot.com

I regret getting a silver van, silver is very hot. Id recommned that anyone who gets a non-white van paint the roof immediately while its new and clean...

I would search H-D website for an “elastomeric” roof coating as that is what PDI makes and sells. It is a high acrylic content sealer. Any should work on the van roof.

Ames 1 Gal. White Snow Seal Reflective Elastomeric Roof Coating-SS1 - The Home Depot

Provide an essential and ultimate addition to your roof area with the help of this affordable Ames White Snow Seal Reflective Elastomeric Roof Coating.

www.homedepot.com