We often work with professionals who aid in the insurance claims process for commercial properties who experience weather events causing damage to low sloped and flat roofs. For this project, we were hired by an engineering firm to represent the carrier to complete a moisture survey assessing how much moisture damage was present in the roof. The building was affected by a tornado that hit in November of 2020 and the engineering firm wanted to get a moisture assessment that reflects the extent of internal damage within the roof structure in November of 2021. The neighboring building collapsed from the storm as it passed just to the south of both buildings.
The known construction of this roof was comprised of an old gravel BUR roof with a second roof installed over it that was 1/2″ foam insulation and TPO membrane. Our involvement included capturing visible and thermal images of the roof, identifying where we suspect moisture and completing a moisture meter survey to validate our observations. Both roofs gave off anomalies that indicated the presence of suspected moisture, but the building on the right looked more wet while the roof on the left only reflected 2 locations.
Once we got on the roof, we observed various repairs, failed welds and punctures in both roofs. The right roof, where more moisture was suspected, tested positive with our moisture meters accordingly. The larger areas that tested positive for moisture didn’t correlate with any openings in the membrane while some of the other wet areas we noted a pin hole or failing weld that was allowing moisture to get in the roof. Outside of the damage on the south side of the building, the conclusion for the moisture intrusion was pre-existing damage before the TPO and foam roof was installed and from failing welds rather than wind damage.
On the roof to the left, we ended up testing quite a few areas on the roof in spite of there being only 2 small locations on the roof we suspected to be wet. Some of the locations that did not reflect anomalies that indicated moisture but did test positive for moisture with the TRAMEX. These locations were very small and did correlate with failing welds in the TPO membrane. Because the areas were so small, I suspect the moisture was getting in the roof and getting trapped under the TPO and foam layer. Rather than getting absorbed by it, we concluded that the temperatures from the moisture underneath was being insulated and prevented from being observed from the thermal images.
If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you complete moisture surveys on commercial roofs for insurance claims, visit www.IRAerials.com or call (214) 842-6000 today!