INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY USERS

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Comment by TJ Ewing on December 12, 2010 at 7:43pm

Hi all,

Sorry it took me so long to update, I’ve been in a mad dash to the holidays!  So we did take the bulletin board off (which showed evidence of wetting/rot on its backside) and the church reps were more than eager to do a destructive core given the many decades of trouble with this wall. So they did! We learned we have 4" block with at most a 1/2" air gap to the brick that is most likely impeded in many places by mortar. No vapor or air barrier present and no block insulation or filling.  We saw no direct evidence of internal wall moisture. There's been a lot of confusion by the church reps on when the wetness appears. But at this point we have an externally concentrated drainage area of a large portion of roof, potential irrigation spray onto the brick during summer, less than adequate drainage away from the external side of the brick veneer wall, a weak drainage plane, no weeps in the wall, and some contact between the brick and concrete. Controlling water sources is primary in our minds as we think the wall is wicking bulk moisture via the wall surface and from the ground. When the morning sun hits the SE facing wall, it drives the moisture in which condenses underneath the interior wall paint. The church is replacing the bulletin board with standoffs and we are leaving our core hole open for now.  We aim to control moisture first, and when the event happens again, take more details of the internal and external conditions when it does.

Have a great holiday season,
TJ 

 

Comment by Michael Stuart on December 6, 2010 at 7:49am

So TJ... did you ever get the bulletin board down for a closer look?

Comment by allen p tanner on November 18, 2010 at 11:30am

To properly scan a concrete block wall; the wall needs to be thermally loaded. The Delta T needs to be high enough, (18*f or more), to get a good scan. Again, it is nearly impossible to IR a concrete block wall from the inside. Go to nyinfraredscan.com and you will see that we IR block walls as a business. I would not recommend scanning a block wall, especially one with a brick facade, from the inside. Wood frame walls with missing insulation are very well accepted for IR imaging from the inside of exterior walls.
Let me know what you find. Are you going to do a destructive core sample?

Comment by Michael Stuart on November 18, 2010 at 10:57am

TJ, You definitely have an array of theories presented so far. It will be interesting to see what additional data you can obtain on Friday to support or debunk them. Please let us all know what you find. If you take the bulletic board down, please post both visible and infrared images. (We will be waiting in suspense!)

Comment by TJ Ewing on November 17, 2010 at 1:15pm

Thanks for the input Allen. the wall is above grade and is stacked concrete block. Hopefully know more on friday.

Comment by allen p tanner on November 17, 2010 at 1:06pm

The church wall that is showing blue may be wet or may have an active air leak causing the cooling effect. Check along the wall with a radiometric meter and measure temperature difference. A pin point or radiometric moisture meter will confirm moisture.

Comment by allen p tanner on November 17, 2010 at 1:02pm

The bulletin board is causing the wall to appear cool around it as the heat is being redirected away from the wall in this area.
allen@nyinfraredscan.com

Comment by allen p tanner on November 17, 2010 at 1:00pm

The wall appears to be stacked concrete block. To check for open cells, missing insulation or filler: you need to thermal load the wall from the outside and check with IR several times during the loading span to get a good picture of the cells. If the wall is below grade; then it will be harder to test. It appears that the hot electric or water baseboard is heating the wall unevenly and distorting the IR image. It will be nearly impossible to get and accurate IR scan on a concrete wall below grade or in contact with soill.
allen@nyinfraredscan.com

Comment by dale garren on November 11, 2010 at 8:32am

one more question, is the masonary full cell grout?

Comment by Rod Hoff on November 11, 2010 at 8:27am

TJ
Yes, to see a thermal drop due to evaporative cooling where the moisture issued is water intrusion the surface would have to be permeable. The moisture must reach the surface. Condensation, of course, occurs on the surface and therefore is not affected by permeance.

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