Repello, Zinc & Plycem:
The Panama Materials
Vocabulary You Need

The concrete masonry unit is the single most important material in Panamanian residential construction. Exterior and interior walls, load-bearing and partition — almost everything starts with the bloque. Panama uses its own sizing conventions. The most common residential blocks are the No. 4 (4-inch wide) for interior partitions and the No. 6 (6-inch wide) for exterior or structural walls, both typically 8 inches tall and 18 inches long — slightly different proportions from the U.S. standard 8×8×16 CMU.

Blocks are stacked in courses with mortar, reinforced with vertical rebar through the hollow cores, and the cores are filled with concrete slurry — this is what makes a Panamanian block wall dramatically stronger, and heavier, than a simple mortared block fence. The exterior surface gets repello (see below). What you see on a finished Panamanian wall is never the block itself — it’s always the plastered finish over it.

Why it matters for renovation: When a contractor says “we’ll add a wall,” they mean real concrete block construction — materials, mortar, rebar, concrete fill, and then separate repello work. That’s four distinct material inputs before a single coat of paint.

Repello is cement plaster — a mixture of Portland cement, sand, and water — applied by hand or machine directly over concrete block to create a smooth, paintable surface. It’s what makes a block wall look like a wall instead of a pile of masonry units. Applied in one or two coats to a total thickness of roughly 10–20mm (about 3/8 to 3/4 inch), repello is troweled to a smooth finish, allowed to cure for several days, and then painted.

This is also the finish material that gets applied after any wall-chasing or repair work. Every time you open a chase for new electrical or plumbing, the final step before painting is replastering the chase closed with fresh repello and feathering it smooth into the surrounding wall. A skilled repello worker — called a repellador — is a specific trade. In Panama, the expectation is that this finish is genuinely smooth and flat. A poor repello job telegraphs itself immediately under any raking light.

Why it matters for renovation: “Repello” appearing in a contractor quote means plastering labor, which is a separate line item from the electrical or plumbing work that required it. Budget both.

When a Panamanian says “techo de zinc” they mean corrugated metal roofing — but the material is almost always galvanized steel, not zinc. The term has stuck even as the actual product evolved. Modern Panamanian zinc roofing is typically galvanized steel sheet, calibre 24–26 (gauge), available in standard corrugation (canal corriente) or wider corrugation (canal ancho), in galvanized silver or in factory-painted colors. Hopsa, one of Panama’s main building suppliers, manufactures their own Superzinc line and also carries colored prepainted sheets — reds, blues, greens are common on residential roofs.

Sheets are sold by the linear foot or by full-length pieces — common lengths are 10, 12, 16, 18, and 22 feet. Width is approximately 40 inches (about 1 meter) per sheet, with some overlap at installation. The carriola — a galvanized steel purlin — is the structural horizontal member the zinc sheets attach to. Carriolas come in various gauges; Hopsa offers their own “Tecnología Avanzada” (TA) carriola designed to interlock cleanly.

Why it matters for renovation: If a property has an aging zinc roof, the failure mode is almost always at the fasteners and ridge cap, not the panels themselves. Budget for fastener replacement and resealing before full re-roofing. And if you want to add insulation under an existing zinc roof, reflective foil underlayment (aislante reflectivo) sits between the carriola and the zinc panel and significantly reduces radiant heat gain.

Plycem is a brand name — made by The Plycem Company, part of the Elementia Group — that has become a generic term in Panama for fiber cement board, much the way Sheetrock is used for drywall in the U.S. The actual product is a sheet panel made from Portland cement, sand, chalk, and cellulose fiber reinforcement. It’s manufactured in Costa Rica and widely available across Central America.

Plycem comes in several product lines. The most relevant for renovation work are the wall board (for interior partitions over steel studs), the exterior board (for exterior cladding or wet areas), and the Plyrock system (a seamless wall system with hidden joints, used in higher-end builds). In Panama, you’ll most often encounter Plycem as the interior wall panel in newer commercial construction, some upscale residential builds, and increasingly in renovation projects where an American-trained contractor is doing the work — because it behaves more like drywall: cuttable with a scoring knife or power saw, screwable to steel studs, and tapeable to a smooth finish.

The key differences from drywall: Plycem is heavier and harder, doesn’t disintegrate in moisture, won’t grow mold the way paper-faced gypsum can, and is genuinely termite-proof. The tradeoff is that it’s more expensive than drywall, heavier to handle, and requires carbide-tipped cutting tools rather than a simple utility knife.

Why it matters for renovation: If you find Plycem walls in a property, you’re dealing with something closer to wood-frame renovation logic — surface-mounted boxes, screwed studs, serviceable wall cavities. That’s a meaningful renovation advantage over solid block, and worth knowing before you write an offer.

M2 is the local generic name; Covintec is the best-known brand. The panel is a sheet of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam — the same material as a coffee cup, but in thick structural panel form — sandwiched between and bonded to welded wire mesh on both faces. The finished panel is slotted onto rebar stubs at the foundation, assembled into walls, and then both faces are sprayed with cement repello. The result looks and feels like a plastered concrete wall but is dramatically lighter, faster to build, and — crucially — has real insulating value from the EPS core.

A Panamanian engineering society advisor quoted in Panama América confirmed the thermal advantage directly: “Las paredes de las casas construidas con el sistema M2 son mucho más frescas por el foam” — the walls built with M2 are much cooler because of the foam. This is a significant selling point in a country where cooling costs are a constant concern. Covintec is also seismically rated and approved for multi-story construction.

The renovation implication of M2 is interesting: the foam core can be cut or burned with a gas torch to create channels for electrical and plumbing before the repello is applied. On new M2 construction, running services is significantly easier than in solid block. On existing M2 walls after repello is applied, you can still chase the foam layer (it’s much softer than concrete block) but you need to know you’re in an M2 building and not a block building to do it safely.

Why it matters for renovation: An M2 property is not a block property. The wall chasing is easier, the insulation is better, and the overall thermal performance is meaningfully different. If a property listing says “M2 construction” or “sistema Covintec,” file that as a positive — especially in a non-air-conditioned space.

PEX is not a Panamanian word — it’s the same product name used in the United States and Europe. We covered PEX in depth in Part 2 of this series. For the vocabulary reference: PEX is the flexible plastic pipe used for hot and cold water supply lines in newer Panamanian residential construction. It’s color-coded (red for hot, blue for cold in most installations), runs without soldering or gluing, connects with crimp or push-fit fittings, and can be snaked through tighter paths than rigid copper because it bends.

What to look for: In an older home, ask specifically whether supply lines have been updated. If a plumber has been in the building in the last decade, there’s a good chance any repaired sections are PEX even if the original runs are copper or galvanized. A mix of materials isn’t automatically a problem but you want to know what you have.

A carriola is the galvanized steel channel or hat-section profile that spans horizontally between roof rafters or columns, creating the surface the zinc roofing sheets screw or nail into. The quality and spacing of carriolas determines how well a zinc roof performs over time — too widely spaced and the panels flex, the fasteners work loose, and leaks follow. Standard residential practice uses single carriolas; Hopsa also sells a “TA” (Tecnología Avanzada) double-carriola system that interlocks and provides a more rigid deck.

Why it matters for renovation: When evaluating a zinc-roofed property, ask about carriola spacing and condition alongside the panels themselves. A roof with good panels on deteriorated carriolas is a re-roofing job waiting to happen. The carriolas are the structural skeleton of the roof system.

Reflective foil insulation is a thin layer of aluminum-faced material — sometimes a single foil sheet, sometimes a double bubble/foil assembly — installed between the carriolas and the zinc panels. It works by reflecting radiant heat rather than absorbing it, keeping the interior significantly cooler. Hopsa stocks the RShield and Topline brands. This is not the same as the thick fiberglass or foam insulation used in U.S. attic applications — it’s purpose-built for tropical metal-roof construction where the priority is blocking solar radiant gain rather than holding conditioned air inside.

The absence of reflective underlayment in a zinc-roofed property is worth noting in renovation planning. It’s relatively inexpensive to install when a roof is already coming off, and significantly harder and more disruptive to add after the fact. If you’re re-roofing anyway, this is a “definitely include it” line item.

Varilla means rebar. It runs vertically through the hollow cores of block walls (filled with concrete slurry after placement), horizontally in bond beams at regular courses, and throughout every poured concrete slab. The Panama government’s own cost database from July 2024 lists a 30-foot section of half-inch rebar (varilla de media pulgada). The INEC price index noted rebar fell 7.6% year-over-year as of January 2024, so it’s cheaper than it was in 2022–2023.

Why it matters: You won’t usually deal with rebar directly in a renovation unless you’re adding new walls or breaking an existing slab. But understanding that the rebar is there inside every block wall explains why wall chasing requires care — hit a vertical rebar with a wall chaser and you’ve just created a structural problem, not just a cosmetic repair.

Hopsa (hopsa.com) is the major structural materials supplier. They manufacture their own zinc roofing (Superzinc), stock concrete block, carry tile and flooring including the 24×24 porcelain tile we priced at ~$10.99/m² in April 2026, sell PVC drainage pipe, and have a full range of roofing components (carriolas, aislante, ridgecap). Hopsa operates multiple locations across the Panama metropolitan area and has a functional online store where you can view products and get to-the-door delivery quotes. If a contractor mentions going to Hopsa, they mean structural and roofing materials.

Do-It (doitcenter.com.pa) is where you go for finish materials, fixtures, electrical supplies, plumbing fittings, paint, and tools. It’s the closer analog to a U.S. hardware store in day-to-day feel. We found Do-It prices on electrical components significantly cheaper than their U.S. equivalents — the dual wall switch and faceplate we priced in April 2026 ran $2.99–$5.99 versus $13.88+ at a U.S. Home Depot equivalent. If a contractor is quoting electrical or plumbing materials, clarify whether Hopsa or Do-It pricing is the basis — they serve different material categories.