Description

In spite of their natural appearance, the Palmex synthetic leaves are actually part of a roofing system comparable to tiles, shingles or slates. The raw material used in the manufacturing process is a polyethylene, an extremely resistant plastic similar to the one used for gasoline jerry cans. They carry a twenty years warranty, about 5 times the duration of natural palm roofs.

Plastic used to produce the synthetic palms is not recycled plastic in the sense that there is no scrap allowed in the manufacturing of the Palmex leaves. It is however a type of recycling process since plastics are made of heavy byproducts produced while refining crude oil to obtain modern fuels. Furthermore, a Palmex roof will require no waterproofing chemical or pesticide normally required to maintain natural palms. Finally, to answer the objections of environmentalists, let us point out that a natural palm roof will generally be covered by a big black plastic sheet after three or four years of existence.

The Palmex synthetic leaves are a meter wide by 60-70 cm high. The top third of every leaf is made of a solid film which will overlap by about 50% the same upper part of the underlying leaf. When installed with the recommended slopes, it is a perfectly waterproof roof system that doesn't require any other substratum.

The two main types of Palmex leaves are the Bora Bora (and its nonflammable version: the Hawaii) and the Domingo. There is also a leaf called the Palmacana. It is similar to the Domingo except that it is only 50-cm wide. This leaf is manufactured with the scraps from the production of the Bora Bora and the Domingo. The Palmex roof system also has accessories: the ridges, the hips and anti-wind clips.