Sika Sarnafil built its name on PVC, and a spec that names it is usually asking for a welded thermoplastic roof with prefabricated details and a long warranty track. That is a premium system, and the premium is worth paying in specific places: kitchens, clinics, lodging and any roof with exhaust. It is a poor buy on a plain warehouse with a few units. Every one of those buildings in Coeur d'Alene, ID carries the same 60 psf design snow.
We show the Sarnafil-type system as base and a lower-cost single-ply as an alternate, so the owner can see what the premium buys.
What the Maker Sells: PVC First, Then Alternatives
The maker's roofing range centers on thermoplastic membranes, with PVC as the lead and TPO among the alternatives, plus liquid-applied waterproofing and flashing products. PVC sheets are welded with hot air at the seams, and the maker supplies prefabricated corners, boots and flashings to speed detail work. The membranes carry reinforcement for strength and are made in several thicknesses.
A spec may name a specific thickness and attachment. We read it for both, and for the insulation and cover board below the sheet. If the spec allows an equal, the equal rides as an alternate, with the warranty difference listed.
Liquid-applied flashing sits beside the sheets for odd shapes. Pipe clusters, irregular curbs and tight corners that a boot cannot fit take a liquid resin, cured in place. It is slower than a prefabricated piece and it fits where nothing else does. We price it by the detail and note where it replaces a boot.
The Premium: Where It Pays Back
PVC resists fats, oils and many chemicals that attack other single-ply sheets. A roof that sits under a kitchen exhaust, a laundry vent or a process stack is the roof that earns the premium. A lodging building with kitchen and laundry exhaust fits that picture. So does a clinic with sterilization or lab exhaust.
Local hospitality ranges from a Hampton Inn at the Village at Riverstone to the Coeur d'Alene Resort downtown, with attractions on the scale of 413-acre Silverwood Theme Park near Athol. Lodging and attraction buildings typically add food service or laundry exhaust, and the roof is where it lands. On a roof with none of that, a welded TPO sheet does most of the job for less, and we say so.
The question to put on the table is the exhaust list, because the discharge points tell us how hard the membrane will work in its first five years. Hood fans, dryer vents, boiler flues and lab hoods all discharge onto or near the roof, and each one tells us how hard the membrane will work. We ask for the mechanical schedule, count the discharge points and price protection pads or splash sheets where the discharge lands on the sheet.
What It Costs: Thickness, Details and Warranty
Three choices set the price. Membrane thickness, where a thicker sheet costs more and resists traffic and hail better. Prefabricated details, which cost more in material and save field labor. And the warranty tier, which usually asks for tighter installation and inspections as the term lengthens. We list each with its cost step.
Insulation, cover board, edge metal and drains cost the same as on any single-ply. Tear-off is separate. We scan and core the existing roof before we say whether a recover is possible. Wet insulation is a change-order trigger with a unit price written into the bid, so nobody has to negotiate it on the roof in a hurry.
Lead time is a line too. Prefabricated pieces are ordered after we measure the finished substrate, and they take longer to arrive than rolls. We order early enough that the start date does not slip into the snow season, and we tell the GC the date the order has to be released.
Welds: How We Prove Them
A welded roof is only as good as its welds, and the proof is physical. At the start of each shift the crew makes a test weld, cuts a strip and pulls it. A good weld tears the sheet, not the seam. If the strip peels at the weld, the settings change and the test repeats. After the day's seams cool, each one is probed along its edge with a rounded tool, and any open spot is marked and re-welded before the crew leaves.
The same discipline covers the details. Corners and boots are welded by hand, and they get a second look. The results go in the job record, and the record goes to the owner. A roof built on lodging, a clinic or a kitchen can be tested at the end with a water test at drains and low spots, which we offer as an alternate where a leak would be costly.
Snow and Cold: The Details That Matter Here
PVC stays flexible in the cold, though a cold sheet is stiff to handle and slower to weld. Our welds are test-cut at the start of each shift and probed after they cool. When the morning is cold, we wait or change the settings.
Drift pockets behind parapets and rooftop units get drains. Drains and scuppers are located before the price is final, and sumps are set low so water does not stand. Edge metal is fastened to the wind number, not to the minimum. A big wind is the reminder we use when someone asks why.
Where It Fits: Lodging, Clinics and Seasonal Attractions
Lodging and food-service buildings around Riverstone and downtown Coeur d'Alene are natural places to price a PVC-led system. In Post Falls, surgery and rehabilitation employers are another place a PVC spec could land. For attractions, the roof has to survive a long season of visitors and a quiet winter.
Alongside this maker, we price Duro-Last prefabricated PVC on small, complex roofs and Johns Manville systems on large institutional ones, so the owner sees the field.
Occupied buildings keep their guests and patients, so the roof work phases by section and closes each day. Noise, odor and dust are scheduled with the manager. The phasing, protection and quiet-hours lines of an occupied building reroof are priced apart from the membrane.
Closeout and Maintenance
The closeout walk with the GC probes the seams and photographs every detail, and the warranty application goes in with the as-builts. A PVC roof with kitchen exhaust needs a cleaning schedule, because grease build-up shortens any membrane's life. We leave a plain plan with the manager, and our preventive maintenance visits carry it out.
A last note on the paper: the warranty application has a deadline after completion, and we file it on time with the photographs and as-builts attached. The owner receives the confirmation and a one-page summary of the terms.
Commercial Roofing Questions
Is Sarnafil PVC or TPO?
The maker's lead product is PVC, with TPO also available. We read the spec to see which family it means.
What is the premium for?
Chemical and grease resistance, prefabricated details and a long track record. It pays on exhaust-heavy roofs and not on quiet ones.
Can you install a Sarnafil system?
We install and repair roofs of this type and follow the published details for the named system.
Does cold weather stop PVC installation?
It slows it. We adjust welding, test more seams and move very cold days.
How do I compare the bids?
Line by line: membrane gauge, details, insulation, edge metal, drains and warranty tier. We structure ours so the lines match.