Infrared Moisture Scanning for Commercial Roofs

Wet insulation hidden under an intact membrane is one of the most expensive conditions in commercial roofing because it is invisible until the membrane fails, the insulation compresses under foot traffic, or the moisture migrates into the deck. By then, the damage has often spread far beyond the original entry point. Infrared moisture scanning locates wet insulation non-destructively - we map the full roof surface and produce a moisture map showing where the insulation is dry, suspect, and confirmed wet, before a single fastener is removed.

The physics of IR scanning depends on differential thermal mass. During the day, the sun loads the roof surface. After sunset, dry insulation releases stored heat quickly while wet insulation - which has higher thermal mass - releases heat slowly. From the roof surface, a calibrated infrared camera shows the wet areas as warm anomalies against the cooling dry field. San Antonio's cooling pattern after sundown in the fall and winter months - typically a 20 to 30°F drop from midday peak - is well-suited to IR scanning. We schedule scans from approximately one hour after sunset through midnight during these months to capture the clearest thermal differential.

We use IR scanning as a pre-scope tool on every roof where recover-versus-replace is an open question, and on any building where an insurance claim requires documentation of the extent of storm or freeze damage. The scan does not replace core sampling - we confirm anomalies with targeted cores - but it directs the cores to the right locations instead of guessing.