Sika AG is a Swiss specialty chemicals company headquartered in Baar, in the canton of Zug. It was founded in Zurich in 1910 by Kaspar Winkler as Kaspar Winkler & Co.. It has grown into a global supplier of construction chemicals, adhesives, sealants and roofing systems, with subsidiaries in more than 100 countries.
History
Sika opened its first foreign subsidiary in southern Germany in 1912. An early reference project was the waterproofing of tunnels on the Gotthard railway line for Swiss Federal Railways around 1918. International expansion into Europe, the Americas and Asia followed from the 1930s. The company is listed on the Swiss stock exchange. A long dispute between the founding Burkard family and the French group Saint-Gobain over control of Sika was settled in 2018. Sika acquired the mortar maker Parex in 2019, and in May 2023 completed the purchase of MBCC Group (the former BASF construction chemicals business), its largest acquisition.
Roofing
Sika's roofing activities sit within its building finishing and envelope range. Its main roofing brands are:
- Sika Sarnafil: thermoplastic single-ply roofing membranes.
- Sikaplan: a further line of synthetic single-ply membranes.
- SikaRoof MTC: a liquid-applied membrane system.
Sika's wider range of sealants and adhesives is also used around roof penetrations, joints and flashings.
Single-ply and liquid roofing
Thermoplastic membranes such as PVC are joined by hot-air welding of overlapping seams, producing a continuous waterproof layer. Liquid-applied membranes are brushed, rolled or sprayed onto the roof and cure to form a seamless coating, which makes them useful around complex details and penetrations and for overlaying existing roofs.