The verification of moisture in building envelopes has traditionally been carried out by testing procedures where one quantitatively determines the moisture content of the building component. Most methods have the drawback that it may take several days before the result is known. For some materials, these methods are also destructive testing procedures. Here is presented a qulitative testing procedure using thermographic methods. In buildings subjected to moisture damage, inspections have been carried out using JR-techniques. It has been investigated whether moisture damages can be detected from the interior as well as from the exterior of the buildings, whether previously verified moisture damages can be detected, whether JR-techniques can locate moisture damages other than those already detected, whether the extension of the damage can be estimated by JR-techniques, and to what extent the thermal image can explain the cause of a damage. Also, a cost comparison has been made, and operational conditions have been compared. It is concluded that JR-techniques provide an efficient way of detecting, verifying and evaluating moisture damages at a low cost.

Date Published: 1 March 1990
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 1313, Thermosense XII: An International Conference on Thermal Sensing and Imaging Diagnostic Applications, (1 March 1990); doi: 10.1117/12.21918

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1313:
Thermosense XII: An International Conference on Thermal Sensing and Imaging Diagnostic Applications
Sharon A. Semanovich, Editor(s)