Infrared Moisture Scanning in Orlando, FL

Timing: We schedule infrared scans in the evening hours, beginning 60-90 minutes after sunset when the thermal differential between wet and dry insulation is most pronounced. In Orlando's summer months, sunset is around 8 PM EDT, which means scan start times run 9-10 PM. We confirm with building ownership in advance, arrange roof access, and conduct the scan during a clear or partly cloudy night — rain within six hours before the scan, standing water on the roof surface, or heavy cloud cover that blocks daytime solar loading all reduce scan accuracy and require rescheduling.

Equipment: We use a calibrated FLIR thermal camera rated for commercial roof scanning. The camera produces georeferenced thermal images that we lay over the roof zone diagram. Areas of elevated thermal emission are mapped to their physical location on the roof. After the scan, we pull physical moisture cores at representative high-anomaly zones to validate the thermal reading — cores confirm wet or dry, and calibrate the scan interpretation for the specific insulation type and density on this building.

Report: The scan deliverable includes the full thermal image set, a zone diagram with wet-area polygons marked and their approximate square footage, the core validation results, a saturation percentage estimate by roof section, and a recover-versus-replace recommendation with the supporting data. The report is formatted for use in a capital planning conversation, a competitive bid process, or an insurance documentation context.

Recover-versus-replace: The standard decision point. A roofing contractor who quotes a recover without a moisture scan is asking you to gamble that the existing insulation is dry. In Orlando, that gamble loses frequently. We scan before the recover scope is finalized, identify the wet zones, and price targeted insulation replacement within those zones as part of the recover — or recommend full replacement if saturation is too extensive for a recover to be defensible.

Pre-purchase due diligence: Buyers of commercial buildings in the Orlando metro routinely underestimate the roof capital exposure in the purchase price. A building with a 5-year-old TPO membrane that looks serviceable on a visual walk may have 30% insulation saturation from a slow flashing failure. An infrared scan during the due-diligence window quantifies the exposure. We produce pre-purchase scan reports on a timeline that fits transaction schedules.

Insurance documentation: Florida's property insurance environment has made pre-event and post-event condition documentation more important than it was before the 2022-2023 legislative reforms. A pre-storm infrared scan that establishes the roof's dry condition before a named storm provides the baseline that supports a post-storm moisture claim. We recommend pre-storm scans for buildings on long-term maintenance contracts during the May-June period each year, before the active hurricane season.

The June-October rainy season creates a particular challenge for moisture assessment. Buildings that did not have detectable wet insulation in April may have significant saturation by October after a season of daily afternoon storms. The thermal differential that powers infrared scanning is most pronounced in Orlando in the fall — cooler nights following hot days produce excellent thermal contrast, and the scan conducted in September or October captures what a full rainy season has deposited in the insulation.

We recommend post-rainy-season scans — typically October through November — for any building where the owner is planning a recover or replacement in the following capital cycle. This timing gives the clearest picture of the insulation's true condition after maximum rainfall exposure, and it gives the owner time to incorporate the findings into the spring project schedule.

Buildings that took wind damage in a named storm and are submitting insurance claims should be scanned promptly after the event — before any tarping or repair work disturbs the pre-repair condition. We prioritize post-storm scans for our maintenance-contract buildings and, where schedule allows, for new clients whose buildings sustained documented wind damage.

Infrared scanning works best on roofs with polyiso, EPS, or fiberboard insulation under a single-ply or modified bitumen membrane. It is less reliable on ballasted roofs — the ballast mass retains heat and obscures the thermal differential — and on roofs with multiple insulation layers where the saturated layer is not the top layer. We assess each building's roof assembly before recommending scanning and confirm whether the thermal differential will be sufficient to produce reliable results.

Recent rainfall on the roof surface (within 6 hours), standing water, heavy cloud cover that blocked daytime solar loading, and wind speeds above 15 mph all reduce scan reliability. We monitor weather conditions before each scheduled scan and reschedule if conditions would compromise accuracy. There is no charge for a reschedule caused by weather.

For a 50,000 sq ft building with unobstructed roof access, the scan itself takes 2-3 hours. Setup, core-pull validation, and documentation add another 60-90 minutes. We typically schedule a single building for a 4-5 hour evening block. Report delivery is within 48-72 hours of the scan date.

Yes. If the owner suspects moisture in a specific section — near a known leak history, at a problem drain area, or under a zone that showed interior staining — we can scope the scan to that section and reduce cost accordingly. Partial scans are validated with moisture cores the same way full scans are.

We schedule evening infrared scans, validate with physical moisture cores, and produce a written report with wet-zone mapping and a recover-versus-replace recommendation — before you commit to a scope.