A local roof coating business focused solely on commercial projects gives businesses an alternative to expensive reroofing.

After getting Roof Maxx off the ground seven years ago, Jeremy Dimond and Pete Kelley expanded their commercial roofing capacity by creating Impervious Roof Coatings in May 2024. 

Impervious’ product can help give roofs a new lease on life without having to be replaced, saving on costs and protecting the roof.

RoofMaxx does similar work, but focuses on residential and commercial buildings with asphalt shingle roofs. Impervious works on large areas with flat or sloped metal roofs. 

Since getting the business up and running last year, “it’s been phenomenal,” said Ryan Koleber, Impervious’ senior director of projects and operations. 

“It’s so refreshing and good to be able to help business owners, especially locally, just achieve their goals, to get their bottom line, and their building, their roof, has everything to do with their success, their businesses that they’re running.”

Successful start

Impervious’ first year was successful, with its 10-person team doing work from the Tri-Cities to Gig Harbor and even out of state in Oregon and as far away as South Carolina and Hawaii. 

Locally, Impervious has covered roofs for the Port of Benton, Kennewick School District, Ranch & Home and Douglas Fruit. 

Mike Ransom, maintenance manager for Douglas Fruit, was impressed by Impervious’ product when the company did work on its Franklin County apple packing building this spring, as well as the company’s diligence in cleaning the roof and communicating clearly.

“It’s a great product for half the cost of a new roof,” he said. Since Impervious did that work, there have been several storms and no leaks, Ransom reported, and the temperature difference has been a big help as well. 

The packing building has no insulation, and normally the temperature inside is about the same as outside. With the sealant in place, there’s now about a 10-degree difference in temperature, making the interior a lot more comfortable. 

Impervious’ roof treatment is long-lasting, with a warranty of 10, 15 or 20 years, and covers the entire roof with no seams, preventing leaks. From left, Ryan Koleber, senior director of projects and operations; Pete Kelley, senior vice president; and Jeremy Dimond, president and co-founder.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

How it works

Impervious uses a special roof coating product to cover large, flat roofs and metal roofs, making it ideal for large commercial buildings. 

Impervious’ team inspects a business’s roof to ensure it qualifies, then provides a quote and information about the warranty. 

Once the team gets up on the roof, they start by cleaning it with a chemical strip to remove any build-up of grime or grease. The team will also complete any necessary repairs before sealing it up.

Depending on the material they’re working with and what the roof needs, they may use several different layers, from a prime coat on the base to a topcoat.

Most important is the patented fiber seal. “It’s a fibrous liquid that is designed, made to flex with the roof. So heat, expansion, contraction, all these roofs move in the summer and evenings, and this material moves with the roof,” Koleber said.

The difference between Impervious’ product and other roof coating services is that the fiber seal covers the entire roof, including seams. Typically roof seams are taped rather than coated, and eventually the tape will loosen up and fail as the roof moves, said Kelley, senior vice president.

Since Impervious’ coating covers everything, those seams don’t pose the same problem.   

On top, roofs with lots of standing water might get a silicone-based product and then an acrylic-based topcoat is added to reflect sunlight and protect the fiber seal. 

The whole process typically takes a few weeks, depending on how large the roof is and how many repairs are needed.  

Impervious has worked on commercial projects both locally and across the state and country, including for Ranch and Home and Douglas Fruit. Above, Isaac Yocom, left, team lead, and Connor Harper, project manager, scale the roof of Kamiakin High School, where the business was working in July.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

Cost-effective

Sometimes, a roof is in such a state of disrepair that it has to be replaced, rather than repaired and coated. In those cases, Impervious partners with A&A Roofing, so they can offer any roofing solution. 

But much of the time, Impervious offers a cost-effective alternative to replacing a roof. 

Pricing varies based on the roof’s size and material, how much travel the team needs to do, how long the work will take, and how much work there is to do, but on average, it costs about $4 to $6.50 per square foot. 

Dimond, Impervious’ president and co-founder, said that’s usually about 40% to 60% of what it costs to replace a roof, and can even cut down on energy costs because the coating helps to reflect heat.

Additionally, because it’s considered maintenance work rather than a roof replacement, the cost can be written off in the first year, rather than the 37.5 years a roof replacement takes to depreciate, Kelley said.

It’s faster, too, than a typical reroof, and much less disruptive, Koleber said. 

When Impervious coats a roof, it can give a 10-, 15- or 20-year warranty. At the end of the warranty, they’ll reapply the protective layer and reseal the roof. Since the fiber seal doesn’t need to be reapplied, it’s a cheaper process as well.

“Once you choose Impervious ... you’ll never replace that roof again,” Koleber said. 

Go to: ircroofcoatings.com.