Menu path
Cover > Membrane
What it Does
This command allows you to create groups or layers of individual materials (as a roof system) to the entire roof or specific roof planes. You can assign different systems to different areas or leave some areas with no system applied.
When you click this command, a sub-menu displays with several options for managing membrane systems.
🧾 Understanding membranes in Roof Wizard
Consider a "membrane" as any layer in your roof system. A membrane doesn't have to literally be a membrane - it can include base ply, asphalt, interplay, ballast, and all other layers that make up your roof system.
Important: Asphalt may be defined as a fastener because it can be considered a type of adhesive material that is supplied as bulk liquid. Refer to Set-Up > Membrane for how these products may be defined.
🔧 Select-default
This option sets the membrane system for the entire roof. When you first use this command, the Membrane list shows no membranes selected in your roof system.
To create a roof system:
Click Add-membrane to display the list of available membranes
Select each membrane you want to include
Click Add-Fastener to display the list of fasteners
Enter the application rate for each fastener
Repeat for all materials in your system
Membranes and fasteners display separately in the dialog. While order isn't relevant for the estimate, arranging them in application order helps verify correctness when selecting systems for different jobs.
You can select up to 20 different membranes to create a roof system. This system may be saved for later use.
To use existing systems: Click Select system to display a list of saved roof systems. After selecting one, the associated materials list appears.
🔧 Line item controls
Use these manipulation buttons to the right of each line item:
Button | Function |
Delete | Remove this line item |
... | Change/edit this line item |
+ | Insert an item before this line |
When you click OK, your selected membrane list applies to all low-slope roof planes in the job.
🔧 Apply-to-Plane
Apply a membrane system to individual planes, independent of global settings:
Select all planes you want to change
Build your list of membranes
Confirm selection
These membrane settings are stored with the selected plane.
🔧 Remove
Remove membrane systems from selected planes:
Select one or more planes
Accept the selection
Selected planes will be marked as having no membrane system.
🔧 Reset-Plane
Reset all planes in the job to adopt the global membrane list. This removes any user-defined changes you've made to individual planes.
🔧 Negative-plane
Insert a negative membrane area that subtracts from total membrane calculations:
Digitise points defining the area extent
A negative plane is inserted
Select membrane type for this negative area
When membrane totals are calculated, this area subtracts from the plane area to give net membrane area.
🔧 Verify
Check membrane systems applied to specific planes. Select a plane to display its associated membrane system in a dialog box. This also indicates if the plane is a negative area.
🛠 Layout-SPly (Single-Ply Layout)
This command lays out single-ply membrane on low-slope roofs with different perimeter and field sheets and fasteners.
To use single-ply layout:
Select the roof plane to cover
Select the membrane supplier
Choose the membrane to use
Configure settings in the Single-Ply layout defaults dialog
Click Apply
Select a line defining field sheet direction
Locate a position for seam placement
Review the material report
Click Continue to finish
🧾 Single-ply layout settings
Field | Description |
Field sheet width | Width of the field sheets |
Perimeter sheet width | Width of the perimeter sheets |
Sheet overlap | Width of lap between perimeter sheets |
Number of perimeter sheets | How many perimeter sheets to use |
Perimeter fastener | Fastener type for perimeter sheets |
Perimeter fastener separation | Fastener spacing for perimeter sheets |
Field fastener separation | Fastener spacing for field sheets |
Seam tape | Tape for all longitudinal and end seams (must be defined as roll type fastener in Set-Up > Fastener) |
Note: Use Set-Up > Membrane to define sheet widths.
After construction, perimeter sheets appear around the roof plane perimeter. Field sheets lay parallel to your selected line direction. The system generates a detailed material report showing perimeter sheets, field sheets, and fastener quantities.
🔧 Delete-SPly
Deletes all single-ply membranes applied to the roof model.
💡 Related Articles
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How do I apply underlay (sarking) to my roof?
How do I set up flashing assemblies?
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