Sika Sarnafil Roofing in Santa Rosa, CA

A Sarnafil roof is a PVC roof, but not every PVC roof is a Sarnafil, and the difference shows up the day someone orders repair material. The membrane is a reinforced PVC sheet joined with hot air, made by Sika. The membrane earns its cost on the right buildings and wastes it on the wrong ones.

In Santa Rosa, CA the right buildings are the ones that cook, ferment, wash down or vent something onto the roof. Here is what the membrane does well, where it gets expensive for no reason, and how we repair and maintain a Sarnafil roof without making the next owner's life harder.

Sarnafil PVC sheets are reinforced and joined by hot-air welding, which fuses the overlap into one continuous membrane. A good weld is stronger than the glued seams on many other systems. Sika also supplies the pieces around the sheet: Sarnatherm insulation under the membrane and Sikalastic liquid-applied resins for detail flashing at awkward penetrations.

PVC resists many fats, oils and chemicals that damage other single-ply sheets. That is the reason it shows up on food plants, commercial kitchens and buildings with process exhaust. PVC roofing is a strong choice with a clear job, and Sarnafil is one of several makers of it, alongside the Sure-Flex sheet from Carlisle SynTec.

Sonoma County has more than 350 wineries, and a winery roof is a working roof. Steam from cleaning, fermentation vapors and exhaust from tasting-room kitchens can all reach the membrane. Amy's Kitchen operates a production facility in Santa Rosa, while in Petaluma, Lagunitas Brewing and Clover Sonoma are among the top employers. Buildings that process food and drink put out the kind of vapors that make PVC worth considering.

The questions that matter are where the exhaust discharges, what is in it and how close it sits to the membrane. A roof within reach of a fryer exhaust needs a membrane that can take grease. A roof with only a few split-system condensers may not.

Verdict: choose PVC because of the exhaust, not because of the brand.

The Glass Fire of 2020 consumed 67,484 acres and 1,555 structures in two counties, 343 of them commercial buildings in Napa County. It also left burn scars that raise runoff and debris concerns east of Santa Rosa during heavy rain. Roofs near those scars should expect ash and fine debris to reach their drains and scuppers in heavy rain.

Add the November 2024 storm, with nearly 15 inches over about three days, and the lesson is plain. A welded membrane can handle the water if the water can leave. Clear the drains before the wet season, check them again after the first big rain, and make sure overflow scuppers are open.

On an existing PVC roof, we start with a commercial roof inspection that includes a probe test on the seams and a close look at the flashings. If the sheet is supple and the welds are sound, repairs are small and inexpensive. If the sheet has gone brittle, a recover or full replacement is more honest than patching.

For new roofs on food and beverage buildings, we pair PVC with insulation and cover board that suit the use, and we plan the drains and scuppers to handle both rain and washdown. Factory-fabricated PVC from Duro-Last is worth pricing alongside.

On a working roof, the repair is only half the plan. We set a cleaning rhythm that matches the exhaust, with more frequent visits near kitchen hoods and fewer over dry mechanical zones, and we log each visit with photographs so the next walk starts from a record instead of a memory. A grease film that is washed off twice a year costs far less than a membrane that has to be torn out early.

Skip PVC on a dry office roof

If the building has no exhaust, no grease and no chemicals, you are paying for protection the roof will never use. A TPO sheet usually does the job for less. Do not buy PVC to make a bad drain look better, either. A premium sheet is wasted on a roof with serious structural or insulation problems. Fix the base first.

One more place to hold back: liquid-applied resin flashing on every penetration. It is the right answer at crowded, awkward corners, and a poor use of money at a plain round pipe that a prefabricated boot fits perfectly.

A product submittal should match the installed membrane and the proposed detail. Record the exact sheet designation, reinforcement, accessory, seam method, and substrate requirements, then compare those against field observations. At exhausts, drains, and curb corners, use details intended for that exposure instead of relying on a generic weld note. If the material identity is uncertain, take a sample or consult the manufacturer’s technical documentation before ordering. The owner needs an assembly-specific repair plan, not a guess based on a brand name.

Commercial Roofing Questions

Our plant vents steam and cooking oil. Does PVC really hold up better?

In general, yes, because PVC resists fats and oils that swell and soften other single-ply sheets. It still needs cleaning, since grime hides defects and holds water. We look at where the exhaust lands and recommend a cleaning rhythm along with the membrane choice.

How can anyone tell whether a hot-air weld is good?

We run a probe along the edge of every seam and look for a continuous, even bead. Gaps, soft spots and narrow welds get marked and repaired. Some defects stay invisible until water finds them, so the probe pass is the only fair test.

Can PVC go over my old built-up roof at a food production building?

Often it can, if the old roof is dry, flat and not past the layer limit. A cover board or separation layer is usually needed to protect the new sheet from the old surface. We scan for moisture first, because a wet base turns a recover into a slow failure.

Our building sits downhill from a burn scar east of town. What should the drainage look like?

Plan for ash, soil and burned debris arriving with the first heavy rains. Larger drain bowls, strainers that can be cleared quickly and open overflow scuppers are the minimum. Check them after each storm in the first wet season, not just once a year.

Is PVC worth the extra cost for a tasting room with a small kitchen?

Look at where the hood exhaust discharges. If the exhaust stays well clear of the membrane and a grease trap catches it, a standard white sheet may be fine. If the discharge is near the roof surface, PVC is cheap insurance against a premature failure.