INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY USERS

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Comment by Michael Stuart on November 10, 2010 at 7:23pm

Dale, another good thought. I believe that the apparatus at the bottom is a heater system. Rod and I also asked the same questions about the bulletin board mounting.

TJ... are you still out there? ;-)

Comment by dale garren on November 10, 2010 at 3:04pm

has anyone checked the water barrier detail around that beam pocket in the masonary portion

what is the apparatus at base of wall?

is the bullitin board "stood off" from wall?

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 10, 2010 at 12:36pm

This is another of TJ's images of the situation... I just applied a low-temperature color alarm to highlight the area of concern.

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 10, 2010 at 12:33pm

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 10, 2010 at 12:31pm

Concrete masonry.

Comment by Rod Hoff on November 10, 2010 at 12:24pm

Are we looking at firred out sheetrock or masonry?

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 10, 2010 at 12:16pm

Thanks for jumping in, Rod! (I am glad that I am not the only one who asks lots of questions.) I believe that the wall is painted... but do not know how permeable the paint is.

Comment by Rod Hoff on November 10, 2010 at 10:19am

Thank you for the invite to join the discussion. If you have not heard of Restoration Consultants allow me please to introduce our company to you. It is owned by Jim Holland, who is well known in the water damage restoration industry. He has been a major player and influencer in the creation of the S500 (water damage restoration standards of practice) and S520 (mold remediation standards) Restoration Consultants Inc provides three services: (1) Environmental consulting, (2) training classes in water damage restoration and mold remediation plus a variety of other classes.. see www.restcon.com (3) distributor of Fluke IR cameras and training in the use of thermography for moisture investigations and building envelope investigations. I teach a 2 day Applied Thermography Training class and a self paced onlline course covering basically the same information. see www.moistureview.com

Relative to the discussion about the anomaly on the masonry wall, temperature differentials, as you know, can be the result of a host of things. It can be a result of evaporative cooling or it can be heat transmission issues (gain/loss). Evaporative cooling happens under the right circumstances as a result of water intrusion that reaches the surface or condensation on the surface. Assuming that a moisture meter was used to verify the presence of moisture (forgive me if you have already answered these questions in your discussions) the big question is 'what's the source?'. In the process of investigating the issue it would be critical to know the make up of the wall. Like Michael said: Is the information board flush with the wall or attached to the wall with strips? Is the wall sheetrock that is firred out from the masonry? And if so, is it painted or covered with vinyl wall paper? It would be helpful to know the ambient temperature inside and outside, the relative humidity inside and outside and the dew point inside and outside. This information can help (using a psychrometric chart) us determine the humidity ratio (specific humidity) and thus the vapor pressure. If there is no vapor barrier and the vapor pressure is greater outside than inside then there will be moisture movement from outside to inside.

To find out if evaporative cooling is happening at the moment you can spray a little water on the wall and use the camera to see if a temperature drop occurs (3-5 degrees probably). If evaporative cooling is happening then the next question is 'Is the surface permeable?'. If, for example, the surface is vinyl wall paper or some non-permeable surface then we can assume that the drop in temperature is not the result of evaporative cooling due to water intrusion. The positive reading on the moisture meter under these circumstances is probably a result of evaporative cooling due to condensation.

Another question would be relative to the type of mechanical heating unit. Is it a water based system or electrical? Does it provide cooling in the summer?

Sorry for all of the questions but the more questions we can ask the more likely we can come to a conclusion.

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 9, 2010 at 10:32am

I'm going to also ask a friend of mine who is a thermographer/educator, specializing in "restoration and remediation" thermography down in Sacramento, to chime in. This is the kind of stuff where he excels.

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 9, 2010 at 10:23am

Interesting... One more question... Is the bulletin board mounted directly to the wall, or is it mounted on any kind of standoffs at all? In other words, is there any appreciable "breathing air" between the board and the wall? No air flow and a wall that does not breath well would possibly lead to condensation issues... but would not necessarily explain the area above the bulletin board.

I guess my biggest question is why would there be an area conducive to condensation at this spot, and nowhere else? Why is this area "cooler" than other areas on the same masonry wall so that condensation will occur when the humidity arises?

Thinking out loud: I am wondering if an initial leak into the wall allowed enough moisture to enter that it just cannot dry out sufficiently (even though the initial leak may have been repaired).

Anyone want to step in with other comments, questions, or hypotheses?

Regards,

Michael

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