Mr Quyen - Santiago. Posted 03/11/2026
Clay tile roofs in Sri Lanka usually leak where a tile has cracked or slipped, and they load the frame with far more weight than a sheet roof. A Santiago ASA/PVC tile sheet keeps the tiled look at about 5.4 kg per m² and is screwed down with 4 – 5 screw sets per m², so no piece can slide out of line. Over a flat 10 × 8 m concrete slab, a gable roof on steel purlins takes 22 sheets of 4.818 m: about 102 m² of roof and 550 kg of sheet.
House with a dark tile-sheet roof behind trees, Vietnam
Why do clay tile roofs in Sri Lanka leak?
A clay tile roof is made of hundreds of separate pieces, each hooked over a reeper and held down mostly by its own weight and the tiles around it. It works well while every tile stays where it was laid. Leaks start when one does not: a tile cracked by a falling coconut or branch, tiles knocked out of line by monkeys or by someone walking up to clear the gutter, ridge mortar that has cracked, or reepers eaten by termites so that a whole row sags. In the monsoon one slipped tile is enough to stain a ceiling, and climbing up to fix it often cracks two more.
That does not make clay tile a bad roof. A well-laid clay roof on a sound frame is quiet and cool, and many old houses in Kandy and Galle are worth keeping exactly as they are. The question for a family with a roof that leaks every season, or one building new, is whether the tiled look can come with fewer joints and less weight.
Clay tile vs PVC tile sheet: what is different on the roof?
A Santiago ASA/PVC tile sheet is 1.05 m wide and runs in one piece from ridge to eave, cut to length in 219 mm tile steps. Each sheet is screwed to the purlins and laps the next by one wave, so the 102 m² roof in the example below is 22 long sheets instead of a field of loose tiles.
| Point | Clay tile roof | ASA/PVC tile sheet roof |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces | Hundreds of separate tiles | 22 sheets on the 102 m² example below |
| How they stay in place | Hooked on reepers, held by their own weight | Screwed through the top of the wave over each purlin, 4 – 5 sets per m² |
| Weight on the frame | Much heavier; ask your engineer for the dead load | About 5.4 kg per m² at 2.5 mm |
| Frame | Rafters and reepers set to the tile gauge | Purlins less than 700 mm apart, 440 or 660 mm |
| Usual leak points | Cracked or slipped tiles, ridge mortar | Fixing faults: screws in the valley, too few purlins, slope under 20% |
| Colour | Colour of the fired clay; moss and stains build up in damp places | Colour in the ASA layer: no change after 2,000 hours of UV, rated 30 years |
A sheet roof can leak too, and nearly always for the reasons in the table: screws driven into the valley where the water runs, purlins too far apart, or a slope that is too flat. Those are installation faults. Santiago's 10-year warranty for 2.5 mm and thicker sheet applies when the roof is installed as Santiago recommends, so the installer's habits matter as much as the sheet.
Can I put tile sheets on the old clay tile roof frame?
Often yes, once a carpenter or engineer has checked it. Taking off a clay roof removes a lot of weight from rafters that may have sagged over the years, and the tile sheet puts back only about 5.4 kg per m². Three things usually change:
- Reepers. They were set to the gauge of the clay tile, not to the 219 mm step of the sheet. Fix new purlins across the rafters at 440 or 660 mm, one under the foot of a tile step, with the top purlin 15 – 18 cm below the ridge.
- Slope. The tile sheet goes on at 20 – 45%, about 11° to 24°. Many older clay roofs are steeper than that; if yours is, send Santiago the roof drawing before you order.
- Rotten timber. Replace any rafter with termite damage before the new roof goes on, because a screw holds only as well as the wood under it.
Can a tile-sheet roof go over a flat concrete slab? A worked example
Yes, and in Sri Lanka it is a good use for one. Many houses were built with a flat concrete slab so a floor could be added later. Years on, the slab has hairline cracks that seep in the monsoon, and the top floor bakes in the afternoon sun. A pitched roof on steel posts and purlins above the slab keeps rain and direct sun off the concrete, and the space under it can stay open for air.
Example: a slab of 10 × 8 m, with a gable roof whose ridge runs along the 10 m side at a 30% slope (about 17°), a 0.5 m overhang at each eave and 0.25 m at each gable.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Ridge height | 4.0 m half-width × 30% | about 1.2 m above the eave line |
| Face length along the slope | (4.0 m + 0.5 m overhang) × 1.044 | about 4.70 m |
| Sheet length | 4.70 ÷ 0.219 = 21.5, round up to 22 steps; 22 × 219 mm | 4.818 m |
| Sheets per face | (10 m + 2 × 0.25 m) ÷ 0.96 = 10.9, round up | 11 sheets, covering 10.56 m |
| Sheets for the roof | 11 × 2 faces | 22 sheets, about 106 running metres |
| Roof area | 10.56 m × 4.818 m × 2 | about 102 m² |
| Purlin rows per face | One every 3 tile steps (660 mm) or every 2 steps (440 mm) | about 8 rows, or 11 at 440 mm |
| Screw sets | 102 m² × 4 – 5 | about 410 – 510 |
| Ridge and eaves | Length of the ridge and of both eaves | 10.56 m of ridge cap, 2 ridge terminals, 2 × 10.56 m of eave sealing tile |
| Sheet weight | 102 m² × 5.4 kg | about 550 kg |
Most of the load on the slab will come from the steel posts and frame, not from the sheet. Ask a structural engineer where the posts should stand (normally over columns or beams), how they are fixed and how the frame is braced against wind. Plan gutters and downpipes at the same time, because the new roof sends all its water to the two eaves.
Tile-sheet roof on a steel frame built above a concrete slab, Vietnam
What upkeep does each roof need?
A clay roof needs a look after each monsoon: slipped or cracked tiles reset or replaced, ridge mortar patched, leaves cleared from valleys and gutters, and reepers checked for termites. A tile-sheet roof asks for less. Clear leaves and branches from the roof and gutters, and look over the ASA caps on the screws after a big storm. There is no paint to renew, because the colour sits in the ASA layer, and there is nothing to rust. If a sheet is ever damaged, it is unscrewed and replaced as one piece.
When is clay tile still the better choice?
Keep clay on a heritage house valued for its original roof, or where the roof is much steeper than 45% and the frame cannot be changed. And if you simply want real fired clay, a well-kept clay roof will keep doing its job. For new guesthouses, slab houses that need a roof over them and clay roofs that leak every season, a tile sheet is worth pricing. Santiago quotes per order in writing, sends free samples (the buyer pays the courier) and ships every lot with a quality certificate (CQ) under ISO 9001:2015 certificate ICI-23087.D. For sizes and a guesthouse sheet count, see our article on the PVC roofing sheet in Sri Lanka.
Does a 2.5 mm PVC tile sheet take weight? Watch the truck test
Mr Quyen lays a blue ASA/PVC tile sheet and a blue corrugated sheet on the yard at the Santiago factory in Vietnam, and a Santiago delivery truck drives over them. The short shows the test from start to finish. It is a demonstration only: on a roof, the sheet still needs purlins less than 700 mm apart.
Truck test on Santiago ASA/PVC sheets (Santiago video on YouTube).
More shorts for Sri Lankan homes
The clips below come from Santiago's own YouTube channel and were filmed at the factory in Vietnam or on Santiago roofs.
What do PVC tile sheets look like on a house roof?
This one-minute short moves from red tile sheets going up onto a house to a flame test on a stack of sheets, then a blue warehouse roof under installation. A flame test is a demonstration, not a fire rating.
Santiago PVC roofing tiles in real conditions (Santiago video on YouTube).
What does the sheet look like on both faces?
Filmed inside the Santiago factory: a worker steps onto a white tile sheet, red and blue sheets get a torch test, and the last scene is the team beside an export container.
Santiago tile sheets at the factory (Santiago video on YouTube).
What goes wrong with metal and clay roofs over time?
A one-minute short with English captions: Mr Quyen compares metal and clay roofs with Santiago ASA/uPVC tile sheets, first in the factory and then on finished red and grey roofs.
Heat and rain noise: Santiago ASA/uPVC roofing explained (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
What is the roof tiles price in Sri Lanka for a PVC tile sheet roof?
Santiago does not publish prices; it quotes per order in writing, based on thickness, colour, sheet lengths, accessories and quantity. Compare the whole roof, frame included, because the tile sheet needs purlins at 440 or 660 mm but puts much less weight on the frame than clay.
Can PVC tile sheets go on an old clay tile roof frame?
Often yes, after a carpenter or engineer checks it. New purlins go across the rafters at 440 or 660 mm, the top one 15 – 18 cm below the ridge, and the slope must be between 20% and 45%.
How heavy is a PVC tile sheet roof?
About 5.4 kg per m² at 2.5 mm. A 102 m² roof weighs about 550 kg in sheet; the frame and posts are extra.
Can a tile-sheet roof be built above a concrete slab house?
Yes. The sheets go on steel purlins carried by posts on the slab. A 10 × 8 m slab with a 30% gable roof takes 22 sheets of 4.818 m. A structural engineer should decide where the posts stand.
Does the PVC tile sheet need painting?
No. The colour is in the ASA top layer, which showed no colour change after 2,000 hours of artificial UV and is rated for 30 years.
Read more
- PVC roofing sheet thickness and weight
- PVC roof sheet design for a house
- Roof tile accessories checklist
- PVC roofing sheet advantages and disadvantages
- ASA/PVC roof tile sheet
සිංහල සංස්කරණය
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ මැටි උළු වහල බොහෝ විට කාන්දු වන්නේ පැලුණු හෝ ලිස්සා ගිය උළුවක් ඇති තැනින්. Santiago ASA/PVC උළු තහඩුව උළු වහලක පෙනුම තබාගෙන වර්ග මීටරයකට කිලෝග්රෑම් 5.4ක් පමණ බරයි, සහ වර්ග මීටරයකට ඉස්කුරුප්පු කට්ටල 4 – 5කින් සවි කරන නිසා ලිස්සා යන්නේ නැත. මීටර 10 × 8 කොන්ක්රීට් ස්ලැබ් එකක් උඩ දෙපැත්තට බෑවුම් වහලකට 4.818 m දිග තහඩු 22ක් අවශ්යයි.
මැටි උළු වහල කාන්දු වන්නේ ඇයි?
මැටි උළු වහලයක් වෙන වෙනම තබන උළු සිය ගණනකින් හැදෙනවා. පොල් ගෙඩියක් හෝ අත්තක් වැටී උළුවක් පැලුණොත්, වඳුරන් දිව යාමෙන් උළු ලිස්සුවොත්, මුදුනේ බදාම ඉරිතැලුණොත්, නැත්නම් වේයන් කා රීප්ප බැස්සොත්, මෝසම් වැස්සට වතුර සිවිලිමට එනවා. හදන්න වහලට නගින විට තවත් උළු කැඩෙනවා.
Santiago උළු තහඩුවක් පළල 1.05 m වන අතර මුදුනේ සිට පහළ දාරය දක්වා එකම කෑල්ලකි. සෑම තහඩුවක්ම පර්ලින්වලට ඉස්කුරුප්පු කර, පැත්තෙන් එක රැල්ලක් උඩින් තබයි. ඒ නිසා පහත උදාහරණයේ 102 m² වහලයට ඇත්තේ දිග තහඩු 22ක් පමණි.
පරණ උළු වහලේ රාමුවට තහඩු දාන්න පුළුවන්ද?
බොහෝ විට පුළුවන්, වඩුවෙකු හෝ ඉංජිනේරුවෙකු පරීක්ෂා කළ පසු. මැටි උළු ඉවත් කළ විට රාමුවෙන් ලොකු බරක් අඩු වෙනවා; තහඩුවෙන් එකතු වෙන්නේ වර්ග මීටරයකට 5.4 kg පමණයි. පරණ රීප්ප උළුවලට ගැළපෙන්න ගැසූ ඒවා නිසා 440 හෝ 660 mm පරතරයට අලුත් පර්ලින් දාන්න ඕනෙ; ඉහළම පර්ලිනය මුදුනට 15 – 18 cm පහළින්. බෑවුම 20% – 45% (අංශක 11 – 24 පමණ) අතර විය යුතුයි. ඔබේ වහලය ඊට වඩා බෑවුම් නම්, ඇණවුම් කිරීමට පෙර වහලයේ සැලැස්ම Santiago වෙත එවන්න.
සවස් කාලයේ තද පැහැති උළු තහඩු වහලක් සහ එහි ත්රිකෝණාකාර බිත්තිය, වියට්නාමය
කොන්ක්රීට් ස්ලැබ් නිවසකට උඩින් වහලක්: උදාහරණයක්
ස්ලැබ් එකේ ඉරිතැලීම්වලින් වැස්සට කාන්දු වීම සහ ඉහළ තට්ටුවේ රස්නය නිසා බොහෝ දෙනා ස්ලැබ් එකට උඩින් වානේ කණු සහ පර්ලින් මත වහලක් දානවා. මීටර 10 × 8 ස්ලැබ් එකක්, 30% බෑවුම (අංශක 17 පමණ), පහළ දාරයේ 0.5 m සහ දෙකෙළවරේ 0.25 m නෙරීම සහිතව ගණනය කළ විට:
| ගණනය | ප්රතිඵලය |
|---|---|
| බෑවුම දිගේ දිග: (4.0 m + 0.5 m) × 1.044 | 4.70 m පමණ |
| තහඩුවක දිග: පියවර 22 × 219 mm | 4.818 m |
| එක් පැත්තකට තහඩු: 10.5 ÷ 0.96 = 10.9 | 11 |
| මුළු තහඩු | 22, දිග මීටර 106ක් පමණ |
| වහලයේ වර්ගඵලය | 102 m² පමණ |
| ඉස්කුරුප්පු කට්ටල (4 – 5 / m²) | 410 – 510 පමණ |
| තහඩුවල බර | 550 kg පමණ |
ස්ලැබ් එකට වැඩිපුර බර එන්නේ තහඩුවෙන් නොව වානේ කණු සහ රාමුවෙන්. කණු තබන්නේ කොතැනද, සුළඟට රාමුව තදකරන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න ව්යුහ ඉංජිනේරුවෙකුගෙන් අසන්න. පීලි සහ වතුර බට ද එකවරම සැලසුම් කරන්න.
තද පැහැති උළු තහඩු වහල සහිත දෙමහල් නිවසක්, Nghe An, වියට්නාමය
නඩත්තුව කොහොමද?
මැටි වහලයකට හැම මෝසමකටම පසු ලිස්සූ උළු නැවත තැබීම, මුදුනේ බදාම අලුත්වැඩියාව සහ රීප්පවල වේයන් පරීක්ෂාව අවශ්යයි. උළු තහඩු වහලයකට කොළ සහ අතු ඉවත් කිරීම සහ කුණාටුවකින් පසු ASA කැප් බැලීම ප්රමාණවත්. වර්ණය ASA ස්තරයේ ඇති නිසා තීන්ත ගාන්න අවශ්ය නැත; මලකඩ ද නැත. Santiago නිර්දේශ කළ ලෙස සවි කළ 2.5 mm හෝ ඊට ඝන තහඩුවලට වසර 10ක වගකීමක් ඇත.
මැටි උළු තවමත් හොඳ තේරීම වන්නේ කවදාද?
මුල් වහලය නිසාම වටිනා පැරණි නිවසක, හෝ බෑවුම 45% ට වඩා බොහෝ වැඩි වී රාමුව වෙනස් කළ නොහැකි තැනක මැටි උළු තබා ගන්න. සැබෑ පිළිස්සූ මැටි ම ඕනෙ නම්, හොඳින් නඩත්තු කළ මැටි වහලයක් දිගටම වැඩ කරයි. අලුත් ආගන්තුක නිවාස, උඩින් වහලක් අවශ්ය ස්ලැබ් නිවාස සහ හැම මෝසමකම කාන්දු වන මැටි වහල සඳහා උළු තහඩුවේ මිල ගණන් ඉල්ලා බලන්න. නියැදි නොමිලේ; කුරියර් ගාස්තුව ගැනුම්කරු ගෙවයි.
නිතර අසන ප්රශ්න
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ උළු වහලයක මිල කීයද?
Santiago මිල එක් එක් ඇණවුමට ලිඛිතව දෙයි: ඝනකම, වර්ණය, තහඩු දිග, උපාංග සහ ප්රමාණය අනුව. රාමුව ද ඇතුළුව මුළු වහලයේම වියදම සසඳන්න.
පරණ මැටි උළු රාමුවට PVC උළු තහඩු දාන්න පුළුවන්ද?
බොහෝ විට පුළුවන්. 440 හෝ 660 mm පරතරයට අලුත් පර්ලින් දාන්න ඕනෙ, බෑවුම 20% – 45% අතර විය යුතුයි.
PVC උළු තහඩු වහලයක බර කීයද?
2.5 mm තහඩුව වර්ග මීටරයකට 5.4 kg පමණ. 102 m² වහලයක තහඩු බර 550 kg පමණ; රාමුවේ බර වෙනම.
Sources for the figures in this article
- Profiles, 2.5–3.0 mm thickness and 10-year warranty: Santiago ASA/PVC product specification.
- 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.
