A Brief Guide to Roof Leaks: What Causes Them and What Can Be Done About Them Pt. 2
If you only examine the surface of your roof to determine if there are any leaks, you may be overlooking some important factors. Sometimes a roof leak isn’t evident until you go deeper and get an infrared roof moisture survey completed. Many times these surveys can detect a leak before they even occur, saving your business a lot of time, money and unnecessary headaches. Part two of this two-part series discusses the infrared inspection process.
Infrared Scanning Process
The average person will struggle when trying to learn the science behind the infrared thermography process. Instead, business owners just need to look at it as a more in-depth way of seeing what’s going on with their commercial roof.
Infrared cameras and equipment measure temperatures of the roof to determine the presence of moisture. Discrepancies with the temperature of one area compared to adjacent areas could determine the presence of moisture and a possible leak.
The infrared scanning process usually occurs in the evening hours when the roof has been exposed to sunlight for an extended amount of time. Sunlight causes the roof to heat up, making the temperature rise in areas with trapped moisture. Without the use of infrared cameras, it’s impossible to see or feel the temperature differences in most cases.
When to Use Infrared
You can certainly use infrared consulting services to conduct a roof survey when you’ve discovered a leak on your own. However, you would be better off having an infrared expert come out before it gets to that point. Doing so will help you save some money and prevent major damage.
The average business owner may think they can’t detect a roof leak until it rains. However, with the technology of infrared thermography, roof moisture can be detected at any time. There’s never a bad time to get an infrared roof inspection.
Preventative Maintenance
Having an infrared roof moisture survey completed frequently will help prevent major damage from roof leaks. The infrared inspection process can take a little bit of time, but it rarely interrupts your day-to-day business operations. Once you have the results of the inspection in your hands, you can determine whether the roof needs to be repaired immediately or not. Preventative maintenance goes a long way in protecting the integrity of your roof, but you may not know what needs attention unless you have an infrared test conducted.
It’s difficult to predict when a roof will begin leaking, so that’s why infrared technology should be used on a regular basis. Even the experts at Infrared Consulting Services have a difficult time identifying problem areas with the naked eye. That’s why the importance of infrared can’t be understated.
If you need to schedule a roof inspection, or would like more information about the inspection process, be sure to contact us today.
By detecting problems before they occur and by pin-pointing exactly where problems might exist, Infrared Thermographic Testing has many benefits.
Learn more about our wide range of non-invasive, non-destructive inspection & testing services and if they are right for your needs.
Founded in 1988, Infrared Consulting Services (ICS) provides professional infrared electrical, NDT and building envelope inspection services nationwide.
