Equine Kool roof sealant?

[kj2H3D]

I’m considering having my Lakota LQ trailer’s roof sealed with Equine Kool roof sealant. I do not have any problems with the roof currently, but they say it significantly insulates the trailer, making it cooler. And that it is a good investment to prevent any future roof leaks. My trailer is insulated in both LQ and horse compartments, but I do do a lot of summer driving/camping so if this would make it even cooler, I think it would be worth it. (This is my first aluminum trailer and I understand they do get hotter than the Hawk trailer I previously used.)

Does anyone have experience with this? What do you think?

[Feathered_Feet]

I painted the top of my trailer with ElastoKool (or something like it). I never did a before vs. after temp test, but it makes sense that painting metal white would decrease the temperature. It’s easy enough, and cheap enough for me to do I figured it can’t hurt, might help. Then again, I’m also very concerned about temp since traffic around me can get crazy, and I would hate to get stuck in traffic with a hot horse in the back, so I also insulated and had fans installed.

[kj2H3D]

Thanks! The company promoting it wants to charge $1800 which seems a bit high, considering they just power wash and then apply one coat. I’ve seen a couple of videos on YouTube describing a process where you power-wash, prep the surface with a sander, rinse, prep with an alcohol solution, tape, apply a primer, then apply the elastomeric coating. For all that I might consider paying $1800, lol!! But if washing and coating alone is enough, I think I could definitely do that myself for the $120 or so that the elastomeric coating jug costs! So I’m wondering now if that really is enough or if the full-scale prep shown in the videos better.

[Feathered_Feet]

Oh wow, that is steep! I think if you’re trying to deal a leaky roof that is the way to go. If you don’t have any leaks and are just trying to control the temp I would pass. For mine, I crawled up there carefully, scrubbed with soap, rinsed, let it air dry, then did two coats with a roller. So ~ $70 for the elastocool and whatever for the rollers. My time was the probably the biggest expense - a few hours over a weekend.

Worth noting my trailer was mostly new so I think the minimal prep was fine. If you have years of gunk up there your prep may need to be more rigorous.

But $1800 still feels excessive unless you’re trying to seal against water intrusion.

[kj2H3D]

That’s helpful! My roof is fairly new (thanks to having to be replaced by Lakota after the derecho!) and no leaks that I know of. So one other question - it sounds like you did go on the roof to do the work, are there things to know about where you can and cannot walk? (The videos I’ve seen show these big men walking all over the roofs while they work. But… I’m thinking that’s not a good idea!). Anyway, I’m very small but even then, I was wondering if I needed to figure out how to set up scaffolding to do this myself. But if I could go on the roof, that would make it so much easier!

[endlessclimb]

I’m small, and walked all over the roofs of my aluminum trailers. I also walk/sit on the roof of my truck without issue. You’re fine to walk, just make sure you have good shoes on because the heat of the metal will be 2nd degree burn worthy if not.

If you’re painting the roof, make sure you put the ladder where you won’t paint yourself on and have no way to get down.

[Feathered_Feet]

I was pretty careful to walk on it as little as possible. Not only did I not want to get my shoe funk on my relatively clean trailer roof, but the aluminum is so thin, I really didn’t want to risk it. Mine’s a two horse so I simply moved the ladder around the edges. I have an extender for the scrub brush and paint roller, so I could easily reach everywhere from the ladder.

[4horses]

I painted my roof with something similar and it immediately molded. I also painted my old truck bed which also molded. It was the Elasto Kool from Lowes.

[Feathered_Feet]

Wow, that sounds super gross! How quickly did it mold? I must have done mine 3 years ago and haven’t noticed any issues.

[kj2H3D]

I know there are several different brands of elastomeric coating. Did you use the Elastomeric Kool or something else? (But I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews on the Lowe’s Elastomeric Kool so I wonder what the difference is. – maybe it works best if it’s applied when the environmental conditions are a certain way? Maybe hot, humid, and air full of wildfire smoke particles would not be ideal … for neither the roof nor the person applying it!)

[4horses]

It molded in just a couple months. It wasn’t a fan of Florida weather.