If you are a building owner, a building manager, or school administrator and oversee a building with a flat roof you should know that at some point it will leak. The unfortunate issue is that the damage from leaks often go unnoticed. Over time water can infiltrate the decking and insulation underneath. This can lead to rotting and compromise the roof structure.

Traditionally, for commercial flat roofed buildings, inspections are done by walking the roof and (1) visually looking for defects and/or apparent risk factors, or (2) employing small handheld thermal cameras. The risk with both of these methods is that they are extremely time consuming and have the potential to miss trouble spots unless destructive tests are conducted. Added to this is a huge potential for liability as thermal inspections are conducted at night. A two or more man team will walk the roof after sunset which is the best time to detect areas of concern on the roof but presents increased risk to those workers.

For the last few years, with the advancement of drone and thermal cameras, inspections have become more efficient, safer, and reliable. A drone can capture the entire roof in one image or, in the case of large buildings, multiple images that can be stitched together to produce one image.

An infrared thermal roof inspection by our Level 1 Certified Infrared Thermographer can help you to spot any issues with your roof early. An aerial thermal inspection can show whether you need to repair half the roof or replace the entire roof. At an average cost of $10 per square foot a repair is much more cost effective than the average $20 per square foot to replace the roof. So for a 100,000 square foot building your costs could be $500,000 to repair vs $1 million to replace and even less if you only need to repair a portion of the roof.

Some roofers believe that if more than 20% of a roof is wet or has other issues the entire roof must be replaced, however, it has been found that 80% of all roofing material taken to the dump is dry. Our aerial inspection will allow us to view the entire roof in one thermal image so specific potential problem areas can be quickly identified.

Are you close to the end of the warranty on your roof? You should know the condition of your roof before the warranty period expires. That knowledge could potentially save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Considerations To Make An Informed Decision -

1. Is your roof leaking?

2. Is your roof more than 5 years old?

3. Should you coat the roof or replace it?

4. Do you know the cost and warranty differences?

Contact Cynosure Aerial to discuss your needs.