Building Thermography

Two views of a water leak courtesy of the Infrared Training Center

Alpine Building Inspection is one of a group of companies worldwide who have been certified in Building Thermography by the Infrared Training Center. The use of this technology for inspecting buildings is relatively new but is proving to be a powerful tool for finding hidden problems. Thermal Imaging or "thermography" is the science of taking thermal photographs with an infrared camera. This technique allows us to see wavelengths of energy that the human eye cannot see and shows us things about a structure that are otherwise hidden. The upper right photograph shows the power of thermography in finding water leaks. The left half is a normal image of the front of this apartment building and right half is an infrared image.

Infrared view of the front door of a home

The blue streak in the infrared image is caused by a water leak inside the wall due to a defective washer connection on the third floor. The conventional image on the left shows no indication of this problem at all. This is the type of hidden water leakage that can be found with the use of an infrared camera. The photo at left shows the front door of a home from the outside in winter. It looks like it was taken at night but was actually taken in daylight. Day and night make no difference to the infrared camera since it sees "heat" rather than light as our eyes do. The yellow areas are warmer and the blue areas are colder. You can see that most of the heat is escaping from the solid wood front door. Notice that the concrete foundation is warmer than the siding due to this home having a heated crawlspace. If you look closely, you can see the wall studs and diagonal bracing in the wall to the right of the door.

Two views of loose wiring on an electrical outlet

These are just some of the details that thermal imaging allows us to see that aren't normally visible. The photo at right shows the result of loose aluminum wiring at a wall outlet. Without the infrared camera, there would be no indication of the potential fire hazard developing at this outlet. Using thermography we can find moisture, electrical and structural problems before they cause major damage. Alpine Building Inspection uses this technology to help you solve problems in building maintenance and we make it available at reasonable prices. Call us to find out if thermography can solve your problem.