We've been getting some inquiries lately about TPO or TPE membranes, so I thought I'd take a moment to provide a bit of info!
What's TPO you ask?
TPO is Thermo-plastic-polyefin. It's a type of plastic with fibre glass reinforcing.
It's mechanically fastened and glued and the seam joins are joined using a hot air welder.
TPO is currently a bit of a trend for flat roofs -in the right situations it's a useful product and we are able to to lay it (we use ARDEX TPO, which is made by Firestone). It does have some downsides though - mostly its lack of adaptability.
If you have large areas of flat roof it can be a good choice, as it is wider than Butynol and Torch on membranes and weighs less. It has great reflective properties and can be use dfor potable water.
The detailing and outlets are quite different on TPO than that are for other membranes. There are a lot more factory formed pieces (its quite a rigid material).
Because of its rigidity TPO is not suited to box gutters or complex detailing.
In the USA where it is most common TPO roofs are always formed to outlets without gutters - which obviously adds difficulty and cost to the ply laying process.
For more info:
