Sika Sikaplan Walkway-20
A hot-air-weldable PVC walkway and protection sheet that shields exposed single-ply roof membranes wherever people walk for maintenance.
What is it?
A 2 mm PVC protection sheet with an embossed pyramid-textured top, hot-air welded onto an installed Sikaplan PVC roof membrane to create a defined, wear-resistant maintenance path.
Where is it used?
Exposed flat roofs on commercial, industrial, institutional and warehouse buildings — along service routes to AC plant, solar arrays, vents, gutters and rooftop equipment.
Why use it?
It absorbs foot traffic, tool drops and point loads that would otherwise abrade or puncture the waterproofing membrane, extending roof life without ballast or fasteners.
How is it applied?
Rolled out, cut to length with a ~2 cm drainage gap between sections, then circular hot-air welded directly to the compatible PVC membrane by a Sika-trained applicator.
About Sika Sikaplan Walkway-20
Sikaplan Walkway-20 is a sacrificial protection layer for exposed single-ply PVC roofs. On any flat roof there are places people keep returning to — the route to the chiller, the path to a solar inverter, the run along a gutter that gets cleaned every monsoon. Repeated boot traffic, dragged ladders and dropped spanners slowly abrade and dent the waterproofing membrane at exactly these spots. Rather than let the roof’s own membrane take that punishment, Sikaplan Walkway-20 gives the traffic a tougher, textured surface to land on, welded down as a continuous ribbon that can be replaced later without disturbing the waterproofing beneath it.
Because it is made from the same PVC family as the roof membrane, it fuses to it by hot-air welding rather than adhesive or mechanical fixing — there are no penetrations and no separate bond line to fail. The sheet is UV-stabilised and flame-retardant, so it holds up to permanent sun exposure on an unballasted roof, and its pyramid-embossed top gives foot traffic more grip than a bare, smooth membrane. Supplied in handy 10 m rolls, it is the standard accessory Sika specifies to turn ad-hoc rooftop access into defined, protected walkways on its Sikaplan systems.
The technical insight
The engineering logic is compatibility. Sikaplan Walkway-20 shares the polyvinyl chloride chemistry of Sikaplan roof membranes, which is what makes hot-air welding possible: the applicator’s hot-air gun melts the mating surfaces to around welding temperature and the two PVC layers fuse into one homogeneous mass as they cool. That weld is not a glued joint — it is effectively the same material re-formed, so the walkway becomes an integral, monolithic part of the roof rather than an add-on sitting on top of it. The ~0.40 mm pyramid embossing on the 2 mm sheet does two jobs at once: it lifts the contact surface to improve grip underfoot, and the raised profile plus the deliberate ~2 cm gaps left between strips let rainwater drain freely instead of ponding under the walkway. At roughly 2.50 kg/m² the sheet adds negligible dead load, needs no ballast or fasteners, and — critically — is a wear item by design: when years of traffic finally chew it up, you cut it away and weld on a fresh run while the waterproofing membrane below stays untouched.
Where it is used
- Maintenance walkways to rooftop HVAC, chillers and cooling towers on exposed PVC-membrane roofs
- Access paths to solar PV arrays, inverters and their cleaning/service routes
- Protection runs along gutters, outlets and parapet edges cleaned each monsoon
- Service corridors to vents, skylights, antennae and other roof-mounted plant
- Defined safe-access routes for periodic roof inspection and membrane surveys
- High-traffic zones on warehouse and factory roofs where foot movement concentrates
- Protection layer under portable ladders, trolleys and equipment staged during servicing
- Wear strips at frequently used roof-hatch and door thresholds
Key advantages
- Welds homogeneously to Sikaplan PVC membranes — no adhesive, no fasteners, no roof penetrations
- Protects the waterproofing membrane from abrasion, point loads and dropped tools along traffic routes
- Replaceable wear layer: renew the walkway later without disturbing the roof beneath
- UV-stabilised and flame-retardant (Reaction to Fire Class E) for permanent exposed-roof use
- Pyramid-embossed texture improves grip versus a bare, smooth membrane surface
- Light at ~2.50 kg/m² — adds minimal dead load and needs no ballast
- Convenient 10 m rolls that are easy to position, cut and weld on site
- Recyclable PVC construction consistent with the wider Sikaplan roofing system
Limitations & considerations
- Anti-slip performance is limited, especially when wet — it is a protection sheet, not a certified anti-slip safety surface
- Compatible only with PVC (Sikaplan) membranes; incompatible with bitumen and cannot bond to bituminous substrates
- Requires hot-air welding by Sika-trained, approved applicators — not a DIY or cold-applied product
- Welding demands adequate ventilation in enclosed areas and ancillary adhesives/cleaners need temperatures above +5 °C
- Reaction to Fire is Class E — where a higher fire rating is specified, this sheet will not meet it
- Provides mechanical protection only; it does not itself waterproof and relies on the membrane below for water-tightness
Selection & best practice
Set out walkway runs to follow the actual traffic desire-lines to rooftop plant before welding anything down — the point is to protect where people genuinely walk. Clean the installed PVC membrane of loose debris and let it dry fully first. Roll out each length, let it relax and lie flat, then cut to size leaving roughly a 2 cm gap between adjacent strips so rainwater drains rather than ponds underneath. Weld with a circular hot-air weld directly onto the Sikaplan membrane, checking weld continuity as you go. Observe the temperature windows: ambient -20 °C to +60 °C and substrate -30 °C to +60 °C, with any contact adhesives or cleaners used only above +5 °C, and keep enclosed spaces ventilated while welding. Store rolls unopened and dry between +5 °C and +30 °C, and do not stack pallets. Because it is a wear layer, plan for periodic inspection and eventual replacement of the walkway strips without touching the waterproofing below.
Specifications
| Chemical base | Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), UV-stabilised and flame-retardant |
| Effective thickness | 2 mm (-5% / +10%); embossing depth ~0.40 mm (EN 1849-2) |
| Roll size | 10.00 m length × 1.00 m width; roll weight ~25 kg |
| Mass per unit area | 2.50 kg/m² (±20%) (EN 1849-2) |
| Tensile strength | Min. 900 N (EN 12311-2) |
| Elongation | Min. 15% longitudinal and transversal (EN 12311-2) |
| Reaction to fire | Class E (EN ISO 11925-2, classified to EN 13501-1) |
| Colours | Slate grey (nearest RAL 7015), Brick red (nearest RAL 8004); dark grey underside |
| Service temperature | Ambient -20 °C to +60 °C; substrate -30 °C to +60 °C; shelf life 5 years |
Industry use cases
Commercial & IT parks
Protected access routes across membrane roofs to rooftop AC plant, ductwork and BMS equipment that facilities teams service routinely.
Industrial & warehousing
Wear-resistant walkways on large factory and warehouse roofs where foot traffic concentrates around vents, skylights and roof hatches.
Solar & renewables
Defined maintenance paths between PV arrays and inverters, keeping cleaning and O&M crews off the bare membrane.
Institutional & hospitality
Safe, tidy inspection corridors on hospital, campus and hotel flat roofs where periodic surveys and equipment checks are frequent.
Retail & logistics sheds
Gutter-line and outlet protection runs that take the monsoon-cleaning traffic without abrading the waterproofing below.
Frequently asked questions
Does Sikaplan Walkway-20 waterproof the roof by itself?
Can it be welded onto any roof, including bitumen or APP felt?
Is it a certified anti-slip surface for walkways?
What colours and roll size does it come in for India?
Can our in-house team install it, or do we need a specialist?
What happens when the walkway wears out after years of use?
How we position Sika Sikaplan Walkway-20
Sikaplan Walkway-20 is a dedicated accessory within the Sika single-ply roofing family and is meant to sit on the same-brand system: it is specified over Sikaplan PVC roof waterproofing membranes, so on any project the two are quoted together. Where a roof needs its detailing and bonding completed, related Sika items in the same ecosystem — Sikaplan membranes, Sika hot-air-welding consumables and Sikaplan flashings/profiles — round out the build. For projects on other systems in our range, note the compatibility rule honestly: this PVC sheet cannot go on bituminous or liquid-applied roofs, so a client using a bitumen or cementitious waterproofing system (for example Fosroc or Dr. Fixit lines we also supply) would need a protection approach suited to that membrane rather than this product. Space Arc, as an authorised Sika distributor and applicator, can specify the correct walkway and membrane combination and arrange trained hot-air-welding application across Delhi NCR and Pan-India.
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