Information about Elastomeric Coatings
Today’s consumers have a lot of information available about paint coatings due to the information on the internet. But is the information always helpful, or does it just convince you that you need a product because it sounds like a miracle in a can? One product you will hear about is Elastomeric paint. Elastomeric coatings do have a purpose and expand 300% to 600 % of their dried film thickness, but in many cases is over used. This type of coating is great if your building or home’s stucco and concrete is cracked severely, showing signs of moisture penetrating through the walls. Sometimes cracks are not large enough to warrant an Elastomeric. Many times all you need is a high end 100% acrylic to do the job. Rule of thumb is if the thickness of a credit card doesn’t fit in the cracks, you can use a 100% acrylic product to seal the substrate. Using a penetrating prime first would be recommended to seal the small cracks.
Elastomerics are great for severe cracking and large gaps a credit card can fit. Usually large cracks need to be filled by an Elastomeric caulking as well. These caulkings come in smooth or textured finishes but take some finessing to apply without telegraphing through your Elastomeric coating. Wet sponging the product can help to lower the caulking profile, but keep in mind the goal is to protect your investment form long term costly damage. Even though the problem is fixed esthetically, you will see some of the repairs.
When deciding if you should us an Elastomeric or a good 100% acrylic, check the crack sizes and how many cracks you have overall. The cost to use an Elastomeric over using an acrylic can cost as much as three times more in material. Acrylic coatings cover 100 to 200 square feet per gallon depending on the surface and Elastomerics cover 40 to 50 square feet per gallon depending on the substrate. A good acrylic paint job has 3 to 4 mills of dry film thickness and Elastomerics needs 14 to 16 mills of dry film finish.
In the Sacramento and Davis, CA areas, paint companies like Sherwin-Williams and Kelly-Moore sell different types of Elastomeric products at different price points. If you’re not sure what you need, our sales team at Brooks Painting provides free job estimates and recommendations to best solve problem surfaces. Give us a call at 530-753-5074.
