TPO or PVC?
Both are hot-air welded thermoplastic membranes and both come in white. The difference that matters is chemical resistance, and it decides the specification more often than price does.
Specify PVC when
- There is kitchen exhaust on the roof — restaurant grease degrades TPO
- The building handles oils, solvents or animal fats
- There is heavy rooftop equipment with frequent service traffic and oil drips
- Long-term ponding is unavoidable because the structure cannot be re-pitched
Specify TPO when
- It is a warehouse, office, retail box, apartment block or HOA building with no chemical exposure
- Budget per square foot is a real constraint across a large area
- The roof is relatively clear, so welded seams can be run efficiently
What they share
Both are single-ply, both are welded rather than glued, both come in reflective white that satisfies California cool-roof requirements, and both are only as good as the seam welds and the flashing details.
On a single-ply roof, almost every leak we are called to started at a detail — a curb, a drain, a pipe boot — not in the open field of the membrane.
Common questions
Is PVC worth the extra cost?
It is where grease or chemical exposure exists, because TPO will fail early in those conditions and the membrane cost difference is trivial next to a premature re-roof. With no chemical exposure, TPO is the better value.
Can TPO and PVC be used on the same roof?
They are not weldable to each other, so a mixed roof needs a proper transition detail rather than a seam. It is done — for example PVC around a kitchen exhaust zone — but it has to be designed, not improvised.