Thermal Imaging Building Surveys
Thermal imaging is used in many ways, including in building surveys, especially to check the insulation of the building and potential heat loss – this helps you to ensure your home is as energy-efficient as possible.
Why Use Thermography?
Thermal surveys can play an important part in finding the root cause of problems within a building. Not only can thermography do this quickly and efficiently, but it also won’t waste any time unnecessarily for everyone involved within the process either. Building thermography relies on a good contrast between internal and external temperatures to detect insulation defects. Most of our building surveys occur during the colder months or in the evenings following sunset.
More specifically, when looking to carry out a thermal imaging survey for a building, thermography helps with:
Construction Faults
By using thermal imaging to identify construction faults, you can get these problems fixed before they result in potential harm to people or damage to property. Using thermography means the process is faster, easier and more reliable, and that you don’t have to dig around to find issues.
Drying of Buildings
Another reason for thermographic surveys is to help identify moisture problems, whether on the interior or exterior of the property. Moisture can lead to health issues and property damage, so it’s crucial that it’s caught in time and dealt with.
Damp and Mildew
Thermal imaging is also a great option to pinpoint damp areas, so that you can find the source and rectify the issue with ease, without risk of missing any spots.
Air Leaks
You may not have considered thermal imaging to find air leaks, but this is one of the many uses of thermography. Air leaks can be difficult to spot, so consider these types of surveys in order to get a warmer, more insulated home.
This can lead to a decrease in your energy costs too, so identifying air leaks can actually save you money.
Leaks in Flat Roofs
Thermal imaging surveys are also useful to find leaks in flat roofing before the issue becomes worse. Instead of struggling to see where water could be coming from, since even the smallest crack or hole can make a difference, thermal surveys make the whole process a lot easier.
Building Renovations
If there are any parts of your property that you’re looking to improve, try thermal imaging to help you see the work ahead of you. Thermography can help identify problematic areas, ensuring you don’t waste time and money on unnecessary restorations.
Thermascan's Thermal Imaging Surveys
All building surveys are completed to BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method)
Wind
When conducting a survey of your property, you need to make sure it’s not a windy day. Surveys can’t be conducted in wind speeds above 18 kph because the wind interferes with the results the camera presents and can distort the readings detected.
Dry Surface
During property inspections, the building must be dry to prevent damp on the surface from distorting the reading of the camera and giving an inaccurate temperature due to the evaporation process.
Temperature Difference
For the temperature loss to be visible, there needs to be a 10°C temperature difference between the interior readings of the property and exterior readings.
Solar Radiation
Thermographic surveys cannot take place whilst solar radiation is present, so surveys need to take place in the evening (a minimum of 2 hours after solar radiation is no longer present).
How Do Thermascan’s Infrared Building Inspections Work?
Before the infrared building inspection is conducted, we will look at plans and drawings of the building; you will also be issued with a risk assessment and method, as well as any additional information you may require prior to the survey.
Once the survey has been conducted, we will assemble a full detailed report of our findings with both thermal and digital photos of any key parts, tailored to meet insurance standards.
Once your report has been delivered, speak to us with any questions you may have regarding our services.
Contact Us for More Information
We're always on hand to help, so contact us if you’d like to learn more about how our thermal building inspections work and what you can expect. We also provide many FLIR thermal imaging cameras at Thermascan, so you’re sure to find the one that best meets your needs. Browse our website to see our offering and our latest infrared thermal imaging technology.
Here at Thermascan Ltd, all our engineers hold level II qualifications in thermography with experience of tests and inspections.
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