Mr Quyen - Santiago. Posted 03/11/2026
Metal sheets cover most roofs in Ghana, and for stores and sheds that is often enough. An ASA/PVC tile sheet fits houses where heat, rain noise or salt air are the problem: in Santiago tests it was 6 – 8 °C cooler under the roof than bare metal and about 80% quieter in rain, and it has no metal to rust. To check a sample, look for four layers at the cut edge, measure at least 2.5 mm and expect about 5.4 kg per m² of roof.
Orange tile-sheet roof with a matching ridge cap, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Vietnam
Why do most roofs in Ghana use aluminium sheets?
Drive from Tema to Kumasi and most of the roofs you pass are metal, much of it aluminium. The reasons are easy to see. Metal sheets are on sale in almost every town, roofers have fixed them for decades, and a builder can collect a few sheets the same day. For a store, a workshop or a farm shed, those reasons usually decide it.
The weak points show up in houses. A bare metal roof heats the room under it on a dry-season afternoon. It drums in a heavy shower. Near the sea in Accra, Cape Coast or Takoradi, salt air works on cut edges and screw holes. And a plain corrugated roof does not give the tile look many owners want on a new house. Those four problems are where plastic roofing sheets in Ghana, and the ASA/PVC tile sheet in particular, have a real job to do.
Where does an ASA/PVC tile sheet fit in a Ghanaian compound?
| Situation | Metal sheet | ASA/PVC tile sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Bedroom or living room directly under the roof | Bare metal heats the room | 6 – 8 °C cooler under the roof than bare metal (Santiago test) |
| Heavy rain | Loud | About 80% less rain noise than metal (Santiago test) |
| House within reach of sea air | Watch cut edges, laps and screw holes | No metal in the sheet, so nothing to rust |
| Owner wants a tile roof look | Step-tile profiles | Spanish-style tile profile, rows every 219 mm |
| Store, workshop or open shed | Often enough | A corrugated ASA/PVC sheet (5, 6 or 11 waves) if rust or noise is the problem |
| Roof slope under 20% | Ask the metal supplier | Not suitable; the sheet needs 20 – 45% |
So the best roofing sheets in Ghana for a family house are not always the best for the store next to it. Nothing forces one product onto every building in a compound: metal on the store and a tile sheet on the house is a sensible split, and it puts the extra comfort where people sleep.
Does salt air in Accra and Takoradi damage PVC roofing?
Salt rusts metal. A Santiago tile sheet has no metal in it. It is four co-extruded layers, joined without glue: ASA on top, then virgin PVC, a PVC core and a milky-white PVC base. The ASA top layer carries the colour and blocks UV; in artificial UV testing it showed no colour change after 2,000 hours, and the colour is rated for 30 years. Roofs in real service last 25 – 30 years.
The only metal on the finished roof is the screws. Each one goes through the top of the wave, over a purlin, and is covered by an ASA cap in the roof colour, so rain does not sit on the screw head. On a beach house or a roof facing the sea, ask your installer about a corrosion-resistant screw. That choice is his, and it is the one place where salt can still reach metal.
Installer fixing a blue tile sheet on a small roof, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Vietnam
How do I check a plastic roofing sheet sample?
Santiago sends samples free; you pay the courier. When one arrives, or when a trader shows you a plastic sheet at the market, run through these checks before anyone talks about price.
- Look at the cut edge. A Santiago sheet shows four layers: a coloured ASA layer on top, the PVC layers, then a milky-white base. An edge that is one colour all the way through usually means there is no separate ASA layer protecting the colour.
- Measure the thickness with a caliper on a flat part of the sheet. A roof needs at least 2.5 mm; Santiago makes 2.5 and 3.0 mm.
- Weigh it against the expected figure. A 2.5 mm tile sheet weighs about 5.4 kg per m² of roof, and a 2.5 mm corrugated sheet about 5.2 kg per running metre. A sheet well below that is thinner than stated or made differently.
- Turn it over. The standard base is milky white; a dark underside is made to order.
- Ask for the paperwork. Santiago works under ISO 9001:2015 certificate ICI-23087.D, holds Quatest test results and sends a quality certificate (CQ) with every lot.
Worked example: weighing sheets on delivery
Weight is the simplest check a buyer can make without a laboratory. Take a house in Kasoa with a gable roof: the ridge is 10.5 m, and the tile sheets are 4.38 m long (20 tile steps of 219 mm). Each sheet covers 0.96 m of width, so the roof takes 11 sheets per face.
| Item | Working | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| One 2.5 mm tile sheet, 4.38 m long | 0.96 m × 4.38 m = 4.2 m² of roof; 4.2 × 5.4 kg | about 22.7 kg |
| All tile sheets for the roof | 11 sheets × 2 faces = 22 sheets; 10.56 m × 4.38 m × 2 = about 92.5 m²; × 5.4 kg | about 500 kg |
| One 2.5 mm corrugated sheet, 4 m long, for the kitchen outbuilding | 4 m × 5.2 kg | about 20.8 kg |
| Screw sets for the tile roof | 92.5 m² × 4 – 5 per m² | about 370 – 460 sets |
A bathroom scale is enough for one sheet: weigh yourself, then weigh yourself holding the sheet, and subtract. A 4.38 m sheet needs two people to carry it. If a sheet sold as 2.5 mm comes in well under 22 kg, measure the thickness again before it goes on the roof. The same figure helps the carpenter, since about 500 kg of sheet over 92.5 m² is a light load for a timber or steel frame.
Close view of a blue tile sheet with water drops, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
What does the roof frame need?
The tile sheet needs closer purlins than a typical metal roof. Space them less than 700 mm apart; for the tile sheet that means 440 or 660 mm, with one purlin under the foot of a tile step. The top purlin sits 15 – 18 cm below the ridge. Keep the slope between 20% and 45%, pre-drill 6 mm holes, use 70 mm screws with ASA caps at 4 – 5 sets per m², lap one wave sideways, and never screw in the valley where the water runs.
Ridge caps, hip ridges, ridge terminals, eave sealing tiles and wall flashing come in the sheet colours: dark grey, red, blue, orange and chocolate as standard, with green, white and purple made to order. Santiago sends installation videos for your roofer but does not install.
Small cottage with a blue tile-sheet roof, Long An, Vietnam
Ghana has no trade agreement preference with Vietnam for this product. If you import, check the duty rate for HS code 3925.90.00 with your clearing agent; if you buy from a dealer, ask to see the CQ for the lot. The warranty is 10 years for sheets 2.5 mm and thicker installed as Santiago recommends.
How does a uPVC roof tile react to heat?
The short starts with a flame put to a stack of grey and red tile sheets, then Mr Quyen crouches on grey tile sheets in the Santiago factory. It ends on a blue warehouse roof where installers are laying new sheets, with Mr Quyen standing on the roof in a white helmet. A flame test is a demonstration, not a fire rating.
Heat test on Santiago uPVC roof tiles (Santiago video on YouTube).
Short videos for buyers in Ghana
The clips below come from Santiago's own YouTube channel and were filmed at the factory in Vietnam or on Santiago roofs.
What do red tile-look sheets look like on a house?
Red ASA/PVC tile sheets are carried up to a house, a flame is put to a stack of sheets, and the short ends on a blue warehouse roof being fitted and grey sheets on the factory roller line.
Santiago PVC roofing tiles in real conditions (Santiago video on YouTube).
What do Santiago sheets look like at the factory?
A Santiago worker stands on a white tile sheet on the factory floor and a gas torch is pointed at red and blue sheets beside it. The short ends with the team in front of an export container.
Santiago tile sheets at the factory (Santiago video on YouTube).
How tough is the sheet when you bend it by hand?
A 45-second factory short: beige and orange ASA/PVC sheets are flexed by hand and cut with shears to show how the material behaves. On a roof, purlins still go less than 700 mm apart.
Bending and cutting test on Santiago ASA/PVC sheets (Santiago video on YouTube).
Santiago – a leading exporter of ASA/PVC roofing from Vietnam
Santiago roofing is produced and loaded into containers at our factory in Vietnam. It has been exported to India since 2023, Thailand since 2024 and the USA since 2025. Every export shipment comes with a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and a certificate of origin (C/O) issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, which importers use to claim the duty preference of their trade agreement.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| HS code | 3925.90.00 (ASA/PVC roofing sheets) |
| Certificate of origin | Form D (ASEAN), Form AI (India), Form AK / VK (Korea), Form AJ / VJ (Japan), Form VC (Chile), CPTPP proof of origin |
| Shipped from | Vietnam, by container |
Certificate of origin Form AI (ASEAN–India) for Santiago ASA/PVC roofing sheets, HS 39259000, certified on 24 September 2026. Buyer details are hidden.
The Santiago team beside a loaded export container at the factory, November 2024
Loading Santiago roof tiles into an export container
Frequently asked questions
Are plastic roofing sheets good in Ghana?
For houses where heat, rain noise or sea air are the problem, yes. In Santiago tests the ASA/PVC tile sheet was 6 – 8 °C cooler under the roof than bare metal and about 80% quieter in rain, and it cannot rust.
What are the best roofing sheets in Ghana for a house near the sea?
A sheet with no metal in it avoids rust from salt air. The ASA/PVC sheet has none; only the screws are metal, and each one is covered by an ASA cap.
How can I tell a good PVC roofing sheet from a poor one?
Check the cut edge for a separate ASA top layer, measure at least 2.5 mm, and weigh it: about 5.4 kg per m² of roof for a 2.5 mm tile sheet, about 5.2 kg per running metre for a 2.5 mm corrugated sheet.
How far apart should purlins be for a PVC tile roof?
Less than 700 mm: 440 or 660 mm for the tile sheet, with the top purlin 15 – 18 cm below the ridge.
What do plastic roofing sheets cost in Ghana?
Santiago quotes per order in writing, based on thickness, lengths, colour, accessories and quantity. Ask your clearing agent for the duty rate.
Read more
- Why the ASA surface layer counts
- PVC roofing sheet thickness and weight
- How to check a PVC roofing sheet supplier
- Santiago heat, noise and corrosion tests
- ASA/PVC roof tile sheet
Sources for the figures in this article
- Profiles, 2.5–3.0 mm thickness and 10-year warranty: Santiago ASA/PVC product specification.
- About 6–8 °C cooler than bare metal sheet and about 80% less rain noise: Santiago's own comparisons on finished roofs in Vietnam.
- HS code 3925.90.00: Harmonized System Chapter 39 (builders' ware of plastics), as applied in Vietnam's export tariff.
- Certificates of origin (Form D, AI, AK/VK, AJ/VJ, VC, CPTPP): issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade under the country's free trade agreements.
- Minimum order of one 40 ft container (about 5,000 m) and about 5 days for production and loading: Santiago export desk, October 2026.
Updated 03/11/2026. Santiago Import Export Co., Ltd, Vietnam. WhatsApp +84 935 391 495 (Mr. Quyen), hotline +84 965 437 316 (Mrs. Ly), email salessantiagoroofing@gmail.com.
