Ice Storms Across the South: Roof Leaks Likely

With heavy rain, ice, occasional snow, cold blowing winds and erratic temperature changes it can only mean that it’s roof leak season. Not much fun!

Let’s face it, a little bit of water can do a lot of damage and a little bit of water over a long period of time can be devastating. I know I often blog about Infrared Scanning and roof leaks, but I am going to get a little more technical over the next few posts. I will concentrate on flat roof systems that are widely used in commercial and industrial construction, how they can leak and how Infrared scanning can help you quickly find the source of the problem.

Flat Roof Covering Systems

There are several systems for covering flat roofs: 

Roll asphalt

Single-ply

Multiple-ply (or built-up roofing)

Modified bitumen

Flat metal roofing

For the purposes of time and space I will only be discussing the three more common methods. Regardless of the roofing system you have, there is one thing that all flat roofing systems have in common: the difficulty they all present when it comes to locating the source of a leak in your roof. Because of the various methods of applying these systems water can travel quite a distance before it actually starts to drip inside your building. Making the problem worse is that the presence of water inside does not necessarily mean that the roof is leaking at all, the source of the moisture may actually be inside the building itself. Air leaking through the roof system can cause temperature variations that may cause excessive condensation to occur, the results can look just like a roof leak.

Complicated, isn’t it? This is why an effective building maintenance program includes infrared roof scans. It is the most accurate and cost effective way to locate the actual source of the roof leak.

If you have an immediate concern about your roof please feel free to check out the section on roofleaks on our web site or better yet, give us a call.

Interested in learning more? Call me at 803-328-2889 and let’s talk!

IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit us on the web or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!