Roofing Sheet Types Compared: Which Type Is Best?

Mr Quyen - Santiago. Posted 14/11/2026

The roofing sheet types most buyers compare are coated steel (galvanised or aluminium-zinc), aluminium, fibre cement, polycarbonate, stone-coated metal and ASA/PVC. None is best for every roof: metal is light and easy to find, polycarbonate lets daylight in, stone-coated metal and ASA/PVC tile sheets give a tile look, and ASA/PVC does not rust and, in Santiago's tests, keeps the space 6 – 8 °C cooler and about 80% quieter in rain than bare metal sheet.

Corrugated roofing sheet profiles, Vietnam

Corrugated roofing sheet profiles, Vietnam

What are the main roofing sheet types?

Type	What it is	Where it is usually used
Coated steel (galvanised or aluminium-zinc)	Thin steel with a metallic coating, often painted, rolled into waves, box ribs or a pressed tile pattern	Houses, schools, warehouses, sheds
Aluminium	Aluminium sheet, plain or painted, in similar profiles	Houses and buildings where rust is a worry
Fibre cement	Cement reinforced with fibres, pressed into corrugations	Farm buildings and older industrial roofs
Polycarbonate	Clear or tinted plastic, solid or multiwall	Skylights, canopies, carports, greenhouses
Stone-coated metal	Metal panels shaped like tiles, with a stone-chip surface	Houses that want a tile look
ASA/PVC	Solid plastic sheet with a UV-blocking ASA top layer, in waves or a tile profile	Houses, resorts, factories, farms, coastal buildings

Names change from country to country. In Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya people talk about aluminium, long-span and stone-coated sheets; in India, colour-coated sheets; in the UK, box profile and fibre cement. The table groups them by what the sheet is made of, which is what decides how it behaves on the roof.

Which type of roofing sheet is best for your building?

Start from the building, not the sheet. A warehouse that needs daylight, a house that needs a tile look and a livestock shed that eats metal all point to different answers.

Type	Rust	Weight	Daylight	Tile look	Watch out for
Coated steel	Can rust at cut edges and scratches once the coating is gone	Light	No	Pressed versions exist	Heat and rain noise under a bare sheet
Aluminium	Does not rust like steel	Light	No	Some profiles	Softer metal, dents more easily
Fibre cement	No	Heavy	No	No	Brittle; old sheets may be asbestos cement and need licensed removal
Polycarbonate	No	Light	Yes	No	Heat comes in with the light; used on part of a roof
Stone-coated metal	Metal base can rust where cut or scratched	Light	No	Yes	Many small panels and fixing details
ASA/PVC	None, no metal	About 5.4 kg per m² for the tile sheet	Matching skylight sheets let through 80 – 90% of light	Yes	Slope 20 – 45%, purlins under 700 mm, not a walking surface

Corrugated sheets in several colours stacked together, Vietnam

Corrugated sheets in several colours stacked together, Vietnam

Is aluminium roofing sheet a good choice?

Aluminium sheet is popular wherever steel sheets rust out quickly, because it does not rust the way steel does. It is light and easy to cut. It is still a metal sheet, so a bare aluminium roof heats up in the sun and drums in heavy rain unless something is added underneath. It is also softer than steel and dents more easily when walked on or hit.

Santiago's heat and noise figures compare its ASA/PVC sheets with bare metal sheet in general; Santiago has not run a separate test against aluminium, so no number is given for that pair. If rust is your main reason for choosing aluminium, an ASA/PVC sheet is another option to compare, because it has no metal in it at all.

Roofing sheet types and prices in Nigeria: what drives the cost?

Santiago does not publish prices; every order is quoted in writing. What we can explain is why two quotes for "a roofing sheet" can be so far apart, in Nigeria or anywhere else:

Material and thickness: gauge for metal, millimetres for plastic (Santiago: 2.5 or 3.0 mm)
Coating, paint or surface layer, such as the ASA layer on a PVC sheet
Profile: a tile profile and plain waves are different products
Lengths: cut to order or standard lengths with more waste
Accessories: ridge caps, hip pieces, flashings and screw caps
Screws and fixings, and how many per m²
Freight, duty and clearing for imported sheets
Frame changes, such as extra purlins
How long the roof lasts before it needs replacing

Compare per m² of roof covered, not per sheet. Cover widths differ: 0.96 m for Santiago's tile sheet, 1.00 m for the 5 and 11-wave sheets, 0.95 m for the 6-wave. A sheet that looks cheaper per piece can cost more per m² once the cover width, laps and accessories are counted. For imports from Vietnam, check the duty rate with your customs broker before ordering.

A cream-coloured tile sheet, Vietnam

A cream-coloured tile sheet, Vietnam

Where does the ASA/PVC sheet fit among roofing sheet types?

It sits between metal and tile. Like metal it comes as long sheets fixed to purlins; like tile it can give a roof the look of curved tiles. Santiago's sheet is co-extruded in four layers without glue, from virgin material, not recycled. The ASA top layer showed no colour change after 2,000 hours of artificial UV, the colour is rated for 30 years and the real service life is 25 – 30 years, with a 10-year warranty on 2.5 mm and thicker sheets installed as Santiago recommends.

Santiago profile	Full / cover width	Tile step or wave
Roof tile sheet	1.05 / 0.96 m	Tile step 219 mm
5-wave	1.08 / 1.00 m	32 mm
6-wave	1.06 / 0.95 m	34 mm
11-wave	1.05 / 1.00 m	20 mm

Standard colours are dark grey, red, blue, orange and chocolate; green, white and purple are made to order. Whatever sheet you choose, follow your local building code and have the frame checked by your builder; Santiago gives no structural or fire rating.

Green and blue corrugated sheets, Vietnam

Green and blue corrugated sheets, Vietnam

What do tile sheets and colour samples look like in use?

Mr Quyen presents, in English, a restaurant in Da Nang, Vietnam, roofed with red Santiago ASA/PVC tile sheets and filmed from a drone. The video also shows red, blue and navy tile samples on a wooden shelf and a house with a blue tile roof.

A restaurant roof in Da Nang with Santiago ASA/PVC tile 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.

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 are the types of roofing sheets?

The common types are coated steel (galvanised or aluminium-zinc), aluminium, fibre cement, polycarbonate, stone-coated metal and plastic sheets such as ASA/PVC. They differ in rust behaviour, weight, daylight, look and how they handle heat and rain noise.

Which type of roofing sheet is best?

It depends on the building. For daylight, polycarbonate; for a tile look, stone-coated metal or an ASA/PVC tile sheet; for a roof that must not rust, aluminium or ASA/PVC. Santiago's ASA/PVC sheets are 6 – 8 °C cooler and about 80% quieter in rain than bare metal sheet.

Is aluminium roofing sheet better than PVC?

Aluminium does not rust like steel and is light, but it is a metal sheet that heats up and is noisy in rain unless insulated. ASA/PVC has no metal at all. Santiago has not tested its sheet against aluminium specifically.

Why do roofing sheet prices vary so much?

Thickness, coating, profile, lengths, accessories, fixings, freight and duty all change the cost. Compare quotes per m² of roof covered, with accessories included.

Can I buy Santiago roofing sheets in Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya?

Santiago exports from Vietnam by the 40 ft container, about 5,000 m of sheet, with colours, profiles and accessories mixed. Importers and dealers check the duty rate with their customs broker; samples are free and the buyer pays the courier.