Infrared Roof Moisture Surveys

Detect and document roof moisture problems with infrared inspections

Why use infrared roof inspections?

Infrared roof inspection is a proven method for detecting trapped moisture problems in flat roofs, energy loss due to wet insulation, and preventing equipment down time, production losses and damage to structural components.

Periodic Infrared roof inspections can add years to the service life of a roof. Infrared roof surveys provide the diagnostic information necessary for developing an effective roof maintenance program, planning capital budgets and for making informed decisions when dealing with repairs.

Watch this video of a roof moisture survey and see how Infrared imaging locates roof water problems

Infrared images showing trapped moisture beneath the waterproofing layer.

This image shows wet batt insulation on the underside (interior) of a leaky metal roof

Our high resolution Infrared thermal imaging cameras, find the trapped moisture as shown in the images above. Wet areas are identified and marked so that repairs can be made surgically. By marking wet areas directly on the roof, they can be seen by building owners and roofing contractors after the survey is performed. Often, the infrared survey shows is it is not necessary to replace an entire roof, that only a few sections are "wet" and repairs can be made surgically.

Here’s how a infrared roof scan works...

During the day, the sun radiates energy onto the roof and into the roof substrate, and then at night, the roof radiates the heat back into outer space. This is called radiational cooling. Areas of the roof that are of a higher mass (wet) retain this heat longer than that of the lower mass (dry) areas. Infrared imagers can detect this heat and “see” the warmer, higher mass areas, during the “window” of uneven heat dissipation. Heat loss and other IR services can be performed at the same time.

By using the information generated by a RoofScanIR report, the owner's roofing professional can recommend cost-effective removal and replacement of wet components. Problem areas can now be corrected without the tremendous expense of replacing the entire roof.

Do not use Aluminum paint on your roof!!!!!!!

A Cool Roof is more than just a roof painted with Aluminum. To be a Cool Roof, a roof must be treated with a specialized coating material that is lightly colored and has two unique properties: high solar reflectivity and high infrared emissivity. A cool roof reflects and emits the sun's heat back to the sky instead of transferring it to the building below. "Coolness" is measured by two properties, solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Both properties are measured from 0 to 1 and the higher the value, the "cooler" the roof. Aluminum paint DOES NOT meet this requirement.

Solar reflectivity expresses the degree to which a roof reflects the visible, infrared and ultraviolet rays that comprise solar energy. Surfaces with high solar reflectivity reflect more infrared and ultraviolet rays.

Infrared emissivity refers to the roof's ability to give off its absorbed heat. Highly emissive surfaces are cooler than non-emissive surfaces since they have the ability to shed more absorbed heat at a faster rate.

A Cool Roof reduces the amount of energy absorbed by the roof which helps lower a building's temperature and cuts energy costs.

Aluminum paint has VERY LOW emissivity keeping absorbed heat in your buillding and preventing you form using Infrared Imaging as a valuable diagnostic tool for finding trapped moisture and leaks! Go to NYC CoolRoofs to learn more. Also visit the Cool roof Rating Council for additional information and technical details about Cool Roofs.

Why RoofScanIR™?

We create detailed, professional reports documenting the entrained roof moisture. We designed the infrared reports so that Roof Professionals will be able to use the information to verify the wet areas and write specifications to repair the roof. Our reports can be used to document roof conditions to ensure warranty coverage is maintained and for pre purchase inspections.

Visible light reference image	Infrared image

Infrared Imaging Services LLC will scan an entire roof surface economically to reveal latent defects. If you are an investor, seller, roofing company, facilities or property manager, finding moisture or heat loss problems in a roof is an important aspect when considering maintenance requirements and building value.

Aerial Infrared Service Available!

To learn more, please click on the image

Yellow /orange color is trapped moisture

Wouldn’t you want to know the condition of your roof? The results of an infrared thermographic roof survey can save you thousands of dollars in unexpected roof repairs on a new building purchase or to confirm the integrity of a roof prior to a sale.

Solar panel arrays require Infrared roof scan to ensure the mounting substrate is in good condition

Thinking of installing solar panels? A pre installation Infrared roof scan is required to detect moisture and other latent defects when the panel array is to be mounted on a flat roof, as is the case on most commercial buildings. The life expectancy of a PV solar panel array can be is 15-20 years, if the roof has a latent moisture problem it may require the removal of the array to repair the roof just a few years after installation or even sooner. Removing the solar panels to fix the roof will add significant cost to the roof repair, loss of power/revenues for the building owner and possible problems maintaining the panels’ warranty, if they aren’t damaged in the removal process.

An Infrared roof survey can help you to plan and forecast repair expenses on an existing building, or commission a roof prior to the roof warranty expiring.

Roofing companies use infrared to quickly find and document the location of reported leaks saving many man hours of searching. A roof scan can find leaks which haven’t yet penetrated the decking to cause damage within the occupied spaces. These future leaks can now be identified, documented and proposals for repair can be given to the building management.

Waterlogged insulation which adds dangerous excess weight and increases energy loss due to the reduction of the insulation’s “R” value is also visible during the infrared roof inspection. Knowing the location and quantity of saturated insulation prior to interior water penetration, creates the opportunity to pre-plan and budget these repairs, before any damage is done to property, people and equipment.

If you are responsible for the care and maintenance of a building roof, knowing the condition of your roof is important. Adding an annual or semi- annual Infrared roof inspection to your roof asset management program is one of the best and most cost effective things you can do to increase the life of the roof, minimize loss and maximize profits.

We are a member in good standing of United Infrared featuring RoofScanIR™