Metal Roof Waterproofing and Painting: A Case Study
IBR Metal Roof Waterproofing and Painting — installed as a complete SealPro system by BloemGuard.
Metal roofs are tough, but they're not maintenance-free. On a typical IBR (corrugated steel) roof made up of several distinct sections — including areas carrying solar panels, a flat membrane-covered section, and a separate side roof — years without proper attention can leave rust breaking through the coating in multiple places, while any flat, waterproofed sections show the cracked, patchy surface of a membrane long past its working life. This case study walks through how a full roof system like this gets treated, waterproofed, and repainted across every zone.
The problem with the existing roof
On the main IBR sections, paint had worn through along the ridges and screw lines, exposing bare metal to rust that was actively spreading across large areas of sheeting. The overlaps and screw fixings were no longer sealed, leaving multiple entry points for water during heavy rain. On the flat roof section, the existing membrane had cracked and crazed across its surface, with patchy repairs visible where previous leaks had been dealt with piecemeal rather than properly resolved. With solar panels already mounted on one section, any deferred maintenance risked turning into a much bigger job around fixed installations.
The solution
A qualified SealPro applicator combined SealPro's waterproofing systems with a full roof paint system to address each roof zone on its own terms:
- High-pressure wash and degrease the IBR roof sections to strip away chalking paint, grime, and loose debris ahead of treatment.
- Rust conversion on all corroded sections of sheeting, stopping the spread of corrosion before it undermines the new coating.
- Waterproof the joints, overlaps, and screw lines across the IBR roof using a hand-applied elastic waterproofing coating at every vulnerable fixing point.
- Re-waterproof the flat membrane roof section with SealPro HyperFlex, embedding fibreglass reinforcing mesh into the coating across the full surface and up every upstand for a seamless, crack-bridging membrane.
- Prime the IBR roof surface ahead of topcoating, giving the paint system a properly bonded base.
- Apply two coats of a premium roof paint across the solar panel roof and the side roof, restoring a uniform, low-sheen finish to both sections.
The work is typically carried out across several visits, moving section by section so the waterproofing on the flat roof can cure fully before recoating, while the IBR sections are treated and painted in parallel.
The result
The roof presents as a single, cohesive system rather than several separately ageing sections. Rusted screw lines and overlaps on the IBR roof are sealed and repainted in a clean, uniform finish, any solar installation sits on a roof that's properly protected around its mountings, and the flat section carries a fresh, fully reinforced waterproofing membrane in place of the cracked surface that was there before. It's the kind of full-roof maintenance that closes off every entry point for water at once, rather than chasing leaks section by section as they appear.
BloemGuard is an approved SealPro applicator serving Fichardt Park and the greater Bloemfontein area.
Contact BloemGuard for a free inspection and quote: 072 933 0162 · bloemguard.co.za
The work, step by step
