Roof Leaking?

Is your flat roofing leaking? We can find the source.

Most commercials buildings are constructed with flat roofs or low slope roofs and many develop leaks each year due to sub-standard installation or lack of maintenance. A roof leaking will often cost a significant amount of money and lost productivity. The best method to test for moisture intrusion on a flat roof on commercial, institutional, or industrial building is with infrared thermal imaging. A visual inspection just isn’t reliable or accurate enough to reveal potential and current leak sources. But an infrared inspection often can!

Roof Scan.ca can perform a non-invasive infrared thermal imaging scan that measures surface temperatures and temperature variations to safely and efficiently examine the roof for the following issues:

moisture intrusion due to leaks or failing roofing materials
substandard repairs
poorly installed or missing insulation
excessive roofing layers
plugged drains

Therefore we will be able to provide you with the extremely useful information of the location of the source of your leak. A thermal scan of a roof system can help locate wet insulation which is indicative of a failing roof system or a potential roof leak which will reduce energy efficiency of your building.

The thermal scan addresses the cause of the leakage, even a roof leak that goes undetected to the naked eye. If largeareas of the insulation is wet, homeowners or building managers will have a tool to make a more informative consideration for a complete roof replacement or not.

Infrared thermography is the number one chosen technique for a flat roof inspection because it allows the hidden moisture to be found to stop a roof from leaking. Because of temperature differentials that exist between wet and dry insulation under certain conditions, thermography is able to detect these thermal variances which indicate wet insulation.

Infrared thermography allows for the quantification of the extent of the damage. This technique provides a fast, accurate and inexpensive method of determining the condition of a roof. An infrared inspection should be part of every flat roof maintenance program.

To effectively and efficiently locate wet insulation within a built-up roofing system, the infrared operator must possess a working knowledge of thermographic principles, be able to interpret between the many different anomalies that appear and be knowledgeable in the concepts, materials and construction methods used for built-up roofs. Roof Scan.ca roof technicians have all of these qualifications.

Water intrusion is the ultimate opponent of any roof. Once water enters a flat roof, it is not likely to dry naturally. When moisture levels exceed 19% for 48 hours mold and rot begin to consume building materials. These fungi will continue to grow until the moisture level drops below 19%.

Leaking in a flat roof can be very difficult to find and can cause extensive damage before being discovered. Many flat roofs systems are made of layers of roofing. When water penetrates the outer layer, it will seek the closest downhill defect in the next layer of roofing to drain through. This may be on the other side of the building from the top layer leak. The water will find its way through all layers eventually and leak into the decking and continue downward leaving you with a leaking roof.

Most flat roof leaks can be discovered by IR thermography before extensive damage happens. IR thermography uses the temperatures on a surface to create an image. IR cameras detect slight variations in surface temperatures. Different building materials hold and release heat at different rates. Wet building materials hold and release heat slower than dry building materials. The various temperatures of different materials, wet and dry, transfer to the surface. Under the proper conditions, surface temperatures can reveal what is inside the roof using thermal imaging telling you why your roof is leaking.