Expert: Michael J. Owen - 7/2/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a flat rubber roof about 500 s.f.
I had a company put on a Silver Coating.
What concerns me is the company sent 2 men.
They carried up some old looking buckets & mops.
They were done in lees than 1 hour.
Could they have done a proper coating in this amount of time & have had enough material to cover the roof in those open buckets.
I need to know before i pay the bill.

ANSWER: Hi. Is this going on now? If so, is it possible they are cleaning the roof before applying the coating? I am not sure what you mean by "Silver Coating". If it is an aluminum type of paint, then it would probably need at least two coats. Two five gallon buckets should be enough for two coats on a 500 sf roof.
Sorry to be vague, but I'm not sure I fully understand what is going on here.

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QUESTION: The job is done.
Yes it was a silver coating.
I am afraid they did the job to fast. How long would it take 2 men to do.
Also i did'nt see them carry up any new buckets.
Since i cant see the job they did i need your advice before i pay them.

Answer
I can't see the job either and you are a whole lot closer than I am here in Central America. I imagine they only put one coat and did not do any preparation work. If you figure $50/hr/man and $100 for materials plus a bit of travel time, I can't see the job costing more than $250.00. If you are expected to pay more then I think you are being ripped.