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- Factory: rain getting in through the roof and a stairwell window
Factory roof leak detection: rain in buckets and a leaking stairwell window
Rain was dripping into the factory at several points and coming in at a stairwell window. Dye, tracer gas and thermal imaging showed the routes in, for a roofer and a window contractor to repair.
What was happening
When the engineer arrived, the customer pointed out three places where umbrellas had been rigged up to catch dripping water and run it into buckets. Two more areas had started to drip but stopped once the driving rain eased. Water was also getting in, and causing damage, around a window on the second-floor stairs.
What the engineer did
The roof above the wet areas was inspected for visible damage. Dye was put onto the roof and the areas below were checked; no dye had come through at the time, which the engineer put down to the roof build-up being saturated, so the buckets needed watching for dye afterwards. Tracer gas was put into the roof gutter channel and detected escaping at specific points. At the window, dye was introduced into a hole in a damaged seal until it came through inside, and a thermal test followed the route the water was taking.
What was found
Damage on the roof, including missing sponge filler in some of the roof inserts, which would let driving rain in, and the points where tracer gas escaped from the gutter channel. At the window, a damaged seal that let the dye through, and drainage holes in the frame that had been blocked with silicone, so water filled the frame and came inside.
What happened next
Nothing was repaired on this visit, because the findings were for other trades. ADI recommended that a roofing contractor repair the recorded damage and the tracer gas points, that the buckets be monitored for dye, that the window drainage holes be cleared, and that the window seals be replaced.
If you run a warehouse or factory
On a big roof, water rarely drips straight under the defect, and one visit may not tell the whole story. Catching the drips, noting when they happen and watching the buckets after a dye test all help send the roofer to the right places.
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