The Dallas/Fort Worth area recently had a bout of inclement weather. Convective activity produced afternoon thunderstorms for roughly two weeks straight. During that time, we were contacted with several requests for thermal roof scans across the DFW area. Some of the particular scenarios associated with these requests included:
- Determining the best approach on a roof repair/replacement (large big-box retail buildings)
- Verifying there were no infrared indications of moisture were present after discovering some project inspection steps were missed (elementary school new construction)
- Trying to identify moisture ingress points on a property with incessant interior leaks (small commercial property)
Waiting on Weather for Thermal Roof Scans
The weather was a significant hurdle in the scheduling process for these thermal scans. We constantly consulted various weather resources to find optimal timeframes to accomplish each scan. To increase the likelihood of infrared roof scan accuracy, we always look for the following conditions to be met:
- No rain within the previous 24 hours
- Bright, sunny conditions during the day leading up to the scan (done during the late evening/early night)
- Light wind
We strictly adhere to the standards set forth in ASTM C1153, which means we have to be quite selective when it comes to the timing of our scans.
After several plan changes and last-minute cancellations due to rain that wasn’t in the forecast, we were finally able to make it work at each property in question. Conducting such a high volume of infrared roof scans in such a relatively short period was a grind, but we got it done. We strategically triaged the most critical projects while factoring in the weather conditions at each location.
The End Deliverables
As always, each client was given a thermal roof scan analysis document that serves as a comprehensive guide to our preliminary findings pertaining to possible moisture ingress (or lack thereof). For the smaller commercial property, this was it. But for the two larger properties, we generated a 2D thermal roof map for each project.
These maps are comprised of hundreds (or thousands) of thermal images that our drone can autonomously capture. These photos are then stitched together in software to generate the map.
This roof had numerous different areas, levels, etc. We recommend maps like this one for large, complex sites, as the thermal roof map helps provide additional situational awareness and facilitates general orientation when viewing the individually captured and analyzed thermal images.
We also generated a thermal roof map for the big-box retail park area. The roofs were fairly small in terms of overall square footage, but since the project consisted of two adjacent buildings, we wanted to provide our roofing company client with a strategic, big-picture view.
You can read more about 2D thermal roof maps on our service page.
In Closing
It made for a busy week, but we always enjoy the opportunity to use thermal drone technology to provide our clients with actionable data.
