Tracing the rise of PVC in the market

By Emma Peterson. 

As PVC rises in market share, it’s important to understand why it’s so popular.  

In Season 6, Episode 2 of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth spoke to Lane Reed and Tony Vieira of Mule-Hide Products about PVC membranes. This is a type of single-ply membrane that has been recently skyrocketing in popularity, in 2022 there was approaching 800 million square feet of PVC on the market. This is a huge rise from the estimated 400 million square feet that was available in 2010.  

Tony explained where he thinks this explosion of popularity stems from, “Over the years, PVC's been a highly specified product, meaning it's those working on a project on behalf of the building owner. So we're essentially seeing consultants or architects here who specify PVC membrane be used on a project.” This rise in requests for PVC to be used can be cited to its history of proven performance. Tony elaborated, “Reinforced PVC, meaning a scrim reinforcement in the product has had a solid reputation of performance for over 50 years. And what a lot of specifiers really like is that it's overall the same basic formulation today as then.” 

To keep up with this growing demand, contractors need to learn the installation and maintenance techniques for PVC quickly. This is where a company like Mule-Hide shines. Lane explained, “At Mule-Hide we're a strong training and development type manufacturer. We enjoy really getting in and getting our hands in the bucket, or on the membrane, and encourage contractors to reach out to us and let us know if they want training.” This type of training can set a contractor apart from the competition as being more adaptable and thorough.  

Further, one of the biggest challenges for contractors entering the PVC market is material availability, something a strong business partnership with a manufacturer like Mule-Hide can help with. Lane elaborated, “We want to try to make sure we have that partnership with contractor distribution and Mule-Hide as a manufacturer to make sure they can get that product when necessary and when it's the right option.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode to learn more about how PVC installation differs from other materials like TPO.