Service Area
Roof coating in the Lehigh Valley: Lehigh County, PA
The Lehigh Valley has built more flat roof in the last two decades than most regions build in a century. Sooner or later, every square foot of it needs a decision: replace or restore.
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Drive I-78 through Lehigh County and look sideways: warehouse after warehouse, every one wearing an enormous flat roof. The Lehigh Valley's logistics boom put down an inventory of single-ply membrane that is now aging on schedule, and the first generation of those roofs is reaching the point where facility managers start getting replacement quotes.
Before you sign one, get the restoration number. A Mule-Hide 100% silicone system installed over a sound membrane runs $3 to $7 per square foot. Replacement runs $10 to $18. On the roof sizes common in this valley, that difference funds the next several capital projects.
The math on a warehouse roof
Take a 25,000 square foot distribution building with a weathered TPO or EPDM roof. A coating at $5 per square foot is $125,000. A replacement at $14 per square foot is $350,000, plus the disruption of a tear-off over active racking and inventory. The coating goes on while the building keeps shipping, most jobs in our core size range finish in 3 to 7 working days, and the finished roof carries a manufacturer warranty of 10, 15, or 20 years depending on mil thickness.
Two more line items worth knowing. First, the white silicone finish reflects up to 88% of solar energy and drops rooftop temperatures by 50 degrees or more, which matters on a building where summer cooling load is a real utility cost. Second, restoration is often booked as a maintenance expense rather than a capital improvement, deductible in the year incurred. Confirm that with your tax advisor, but for leased and portfolio-held buildings it changes the conversation.
What we install, and how
One system, done to spec. Power wash, repairs, then polyester fabric embedded in silicone at every seam, penetration, flashing, and parapet transition before two full coats of 100% silicone go down. Wet-mil readings are logged through the whole job for the warranty file. The system works over EPDM, TPO, aged PVC, modified bitumen, built-up roofing with the gravel removed, spray foam, and metal. Full details are on our commercial roof coating page. And because silicone stands up to ponding water, the dead-flat sections and slow drains common on big-box roofs are not a problem for the finished system.
If your roof is leaking today and you need it handled before any bigger decision, start with flat roof repair. Repairs done as part of our process roll straight into a future coating instead of being redone.
Allentown, Emmaus, Whitehall, Macungie
Lehigh County is the newest county in our footprint, and we will not pretend to be the crew that has worked your block for thirty years. What we bring up I-78 is the same thing we have installed across Southeastern Pennsylvania for years: one manufacturer-backed system, applied by the owners themselves. We keep a dedicated page for Allentown, where the mix runs from downtown commercial blocks to the industrial parks around the airport corridor, and we cover Emmaus, Whitehall, and Macungie from the same routes. See the full service area for the rest of the footprint.
Who you are dealing with
Smith Roof Coatings is Keith, Brian, and Jason Smith: brothers and cousins, one crew, based in Chester County. Keith, our lead estimator, is a master painter and master roofer with 25 plus years in the trades, and he is the one who walks your roof for the free assessment. PA HIC #PA214950, fully insured, fixed written quotes. If your roof is not a coating candidate, he will say so on the spot. We never sell a coating over a roof that needs to come off.
Lehigh Valley questions
Our warehouse roof is TPO and only 12 years old. Why would we coat it now?
Because coating a membrane while it is still sound is cheaper than coating it after it fails, and far cheaper than replacing it. A weathered but dry TPO roof takes silicone well: seams reinforced, two coats, and the clock resets with a 10, 15, or 20 year warranty. Wait until the membrane is saturated and the option disappears. If your roof is not ready to need a coating yet, the free inspection will say so and we will tell you to call us back in a few years.
Can one family crew handle a big Lehigh Valley distribution roof?
Our bread and butter is 5,000 to 30,000 square feet, finished in 3 to 7 working days. Larger roofs are quoted case by case and planned in sections, which suits coating work: each section is cleaned, repaired, reinforced, and coated as a complete unit, so the roof is never left open. What you get in exchange for a small crew is that an owner is on your roof every day and the wet-mil logs are kept by the people whose name is on the warranty paperwork.
You are new to the Lehigh Valley. Why should we call you instead of a local roofer?
Call both. A local roofer will quote you a replacement, and if your roof truly needs one, that is the right buy. What we quote is the restoration option most replacement contractors skip: a Mule-Hide silicone system at $3 to $7 per square foot instead of $10 to $18 for a tear-off. We have installed it across Southeastern Pennsylvania for years, I-78 puts Lehigh County an easy run from our shop, and the assessment costs you nothing either way.