Sikalastic Takes on the World

The Iotech Group – the newest addition to the Sika Group – brings a high-quality crisis-resistant product to Sika’s well established roofing business. The global roll-out of this innovative technology is one of the most important projects for Sika in 2009 and beyond.

Liquid applied membranes offer many benefits for waterproofing flat roofs. After a slow start following the introduction of liquid roofing into the market place more than 20 years ago, this technology has become a significant player in the roofing sector, and the purchase of the Iotech Group opens up a huge potential for Sika’s global roofing business. “We at Sika already had a competitive polyurethane based solution for liquid applied membranes,” says Ken McHugh, Corporate Market Field Manager Roofing. “However, by acquiring Iotech, we made a huge leap forward in gaining their thirty years of experience and expertise in roofing.”

With the acquisition of the Iotech Group in January 2009 Sika also obtained its technology and know-how in liquid applied membranes for roofs, balconies, and hygienic wall coatings. Sika’s aim is to become the global market leader in liquid applied membranes. “Only three short months after the acquisition, all of the ground work was done and the Sikalastic MTC Systems were ready for launch into the marketplace,” says Ken McHugh.

There is reasoning behind the recent success of liquid membranes – namely that a liquid application is ideal for roof renovation and it is very easy to mould liquid around difficult detail areas. This makes the liquid membrane easy and fast for the contractor to apply. On this account, liquid membranes are a perfect addition to Sika’s roofing business and go one step further in helping the contractor customer improve efficiency and competitiveness.  For the building owner and architect, there is peace of mind when dealing with Sika, a well known and trusted brand in roofing and waterproofing applications worldwide.

Most business is done in refurbishment

In addition, the new technology is more crisis-resistant as 90 percent of the Iotech Group’s roofing business is done in the refurbishment sector. While companies can postpone new warehouse buildings for several years, they cannot postpone the refurbishment of a leaking roof, for instance on a food production plant, as this could lead to a production shutdown and massive financial losses. For this, liquid applied membranes are the right choice because in most cases you can apply directly over the existing bitumen system, avoiding the cost of removal and disposal. Being able to reinstate the watertight integrity of the roof at optimal cost is a major concern of many customers especially in the current economic situation.

When repairing leaking roofs, customers have the option of patching smaller areas one by one until the entire roof is done or a complete renovation all at once.  The new Sikalastic MTC range of liquid membrane system is designed to offer our customers this increased flexibility in their roofing decisions. Another growing potential for the Sikalastic MTC systems are inverted and green roofs, in which the waterproofing membrane is below the thermal insulation. Especially for green roofs, liquid applied membranes are a great benefit because the product is fully bonded to the substrate, which thereby reduces the risk of water migration behind the waterproofing system. This can prevent customers from very costly removals of soil, plants and trees to investigate leaks or make repairs.

Technologically advanced solution

Sikalastic liquid membranes are highly engineered solutions based on polyurethane technology, which makes them more technologically advanced, appearing at first more expensive than other systems. However the benefits to the customer far outweigh the additional cost implication and usually result in a more cost efficient installed system. A roof with numerous details such as air conditioning units or roof lights requires a lot of work, and the faster application process of liquids can result in significant labor cost savings. Furthermore, the unique Moisture Triggered Chemistry incorporated in the Sikalastic 601 and 621 liquids becomes resistant to water much quicker than other liquid membrane systems, substantially reducing the risk of damage should a sudden change of weather occur.