BiggerPockets

Hey my friend and I are rehabbing a little 1500 sq. ft. 1950's home. Its a ranch and the roof is fine, no warping on the wood, no shingles missing or broken, no leaks. However they are grey, faded and very ugly. I don't think simply power washing will even the color out.

This is a simple flip, so were not going to spend 2000 to do the roof ourselves, though we could. Has anyone ever painted/ tar coated a roof?

A local investor told us to coat it with black roof paint and it comes out looking just like new black shingles. I would much rather go this route. I'm just looking for more input from other investors.

No, its asphalt shingle, sloped standuard roof. Structurally the roof is solid, its just an ugly color and some of the shingles are discolored from being under trees.

I've coated mobile home roofs and metal roofs on houses, but I think it might become an unholy mess to try to coat an existing asphalt roof.

Last tin roof I coated, the black stuff dripped off the edges for weeks and weeks and got tracked into cars and onto the porch and inside the apartments and man, both my tenants and workers were realllllly unhappy with that mess.

Diane - I don't know what it's called but when I went to Lowes they knew exactly what I meant for a pitched roof. Maybe something by Black Jack? Anyway, one glops it on and spreads it around with a long-handle brush. Then one throws away the brush and spends a couple hours painstakingly cleaning one's boots and each ladder rung one climbed down on.

Then one forgets not to stand under an eave and gets 'annointed'.

I agree with the others, the granules on a roof ar ethere for a reason. I really don't like the idea of pressure washing a roof but I know people that do it.
If you are intent on painting it, do it on a inconspicious area to test it.
Other than that, maybe try to pull more focus to the front lower half of the house, landscaping, paint, new shutters,etc.

For a bigger bang, dilute 50/50 bleach and water solution and apply to roof with garden sprayer. Hose off and water grass around perimiter of home real good afterwards. Dont paint it! Shingle granules are made out of ceramic which reflect the suns uv rays. You will end up with an oven! The staining on the shingles is algae that feeds on the limestone fillers inside the ceramic granules. Clean your roof, sell the eye sore, and move on to the next one big tymer...