Our ancestors built their shelters to protect themselves from rain or snow. We do the same today, but with far more complex dwellings. We still must protect ourselves from the same enemy: water.
A friend of ours renovated his bathroom with new tiles. Two years later the entire wall of his bathroom collapsed suddenly. The next door neighbor had used a long nail to hang a picture and the nail nicked the cold-water pipe. A couple of years of dripping destroyed the wall and it fell on the person taking a shower.
Nobody wants this kind of surprise! The paths that water can find into a building are numerous and most are invisible to the eye. Sometimes water appears quite far from where it entered a building. And many times, it remains invisible until serious damage is done. Finding where and how water enters a building is real detective work.
Because of the frequency of water problems and the risk of expensive repairs we invested in infrared imaging cameras. We can scan an entire building using two synchronized cameras. These allow us to see precisely what’s going on under the skin of a building. Our equipment makes the invisible visible.
When we work with a Strata, we first of all complete an infrared scan to discover issues before they become a costly problem. Below is an example of how a completed scan appears.
The picture on the left is what your eyes see. The roof seems normal, but you can’t see what’s happening under the “skin”. The infrared image on the right, however, reveals that the top corner of the roof has a much cooler temperature than the rest of the roof. What could be the cause?
We investigated and found that the tall pines beside the building dropped needles. During wind storms these needles were pushed inside the border flange of the roof, and then wicked water into the roof structure.
A simple maintenance procedure was implemented to prevent ongoing damage resulting in an extended life span for the roof.
Once becoming our client, we will complete a detailed assessment of your building using our water detective technology. Don’t wait until walls start collapsing.
If you’re curious, contact us to find out more.
