Roof materials can be trick to inspect on a lot of buildings with infrared. Weather is one factor while the other is the composition of the roof and the inspector needs to know the materials before starting. With the most common building materials on a roof, they pose no problem at all. For example, rigid insulation boards and composite boards are essentially the same material which makes thermal image reading simple. Within this, we could include, perlite, cork, polyurethane, cellular glass, phenolic insulation materials, isocyanurate, organic fibers, polystyrene, and more.
On the flip side, sometimes extruded polystyrene insulation is found between the protective membrane and the ballast and this is less than ideal. In addition to this, other poor candidates for thermal imaging include concrete pavers, gypsum, lightweight concrete, and any reflective surfaces. Although IR imaging isn’t completely out of the question, it does become significantly harder. Fortunately, these materials are less rare than the materials we typically see.
So if you need an inspection of a roof, infrared is a great choice – but it does have its limitations in certain situations