A record of the roof, without anyone going up there.
Aerial and infrared surveys of commercial and industrial roofs across Alabama. You get an overhead of the whole roof, every penetration documented, moisture marked where it is actually sitting — and a dated record you can hand to a contractor, an adjuster or a buyer.
Schedule
How often a commercial roof should be looked at
On a commercial roof, how often you look matters as much as how closely. Almost nothing up there fails suddenly — a lap opens a little, a drain backs up, water finds the insulation and spreads sideways for a season before anything reaches a ceiling tile. By the time it does, the repair is no longer a repair. Inspecting on a schedule is the cheapest thing an owner can do to keep it one.
Twice a year, as the baseline
Spring and autumn is the schedule most roofing associations settle on, and it is what a maintenance clause in a warranty usually assumes. The spring visit comes after Alabama’s severe weather season and looks for what it left behind — bruised membrane, lifted edge metal, displaced ballast. The autumn visit is about what a summer of ninety-five degree afternoons did to seams, flashings and sealant, and whether the drains are clear before the heavy rain arrives.
After any storm worth remembering
Hail and straight-line wind are the two that matter here, and neither reliably announces itself indoors. A single-ply membrane can take an impact that does not open up for months, by which point the water has been tracking through the insulation and the link back to the storm is a matter of argument rather than record. Imagery dated to the week of the event settles that argument before it starts.
Before you buy the building
A roof is usually the largest single deferred-maintenance item in a commercial purchase, and the one least visible from the ground. Its age, its membrane type, how many layers are already up there and how much of it is wet are all numbers that belong in the price — and they are far easier to raise before closing than after.
Before a lease is signed or renewed
Most commercial leases put the roof somewhere, and “somewhere” is usually vague until there is a leak. A dated condition record at signing tells both sides what they are starting from, which is what stops a maintenance obligation turning into a replacement argument three years later.
Before the warranty runs out
A manufacturer warranty is worth most in the last year or two of its life, when problems have had time to appear and someone else is still liable for them. It is also when owners forget it exists. Worth checking the expiry date and getting a survey in with room to file.
When something shows up inside
A ceiling stain, a tenant complaint, a cooling bill that moved without the weather moving — all of these are the roof reporting late. The point of surveying then is that water travels: the stain is rarely under the breach, and finding the actual entry point is what thermal is for.
One thing worth checking yourself: most manufacturer warranties on commercial membranes carry maintenance conditions, and documented neglect is a common reason a claim gets turned down. Find out what yours asks for before you need it to pay.
Coverage
What gets documented
- Full overhead mosaic of the roof, to scale, as the record of record
- Every penetration — curbs, vents, stacks, skylights, hatches
- Rooftop units, their curbs and their condensate routing
- Seams, laps and termination bars across the field
- Perimeter edge metal, coping and parapet flashing
- Drains, scuppers and internal gutters, and whether they are actually draining
- Ponding, with the standing areas marked on the overhead
- Surface condition: granule loss, blistering, punctures, prior patching
Where thermal earns its place
Visual imagery finds what is broken. Infrared finds what is wet, which is a different question and usually the more expensive one. Saturated insulation holds the day's heat longer than dry insulation, so on a clear evening after a warm day the wet areas read plainly from the air — not where the stain appeared, but where the water actually is.
That matters most when you are deciding between patching a roof and replacing it. The area that is wet is the number that decision turns on, and it is not something you can establish from the ground or from a ceiling tile.
How thermal surveys workCost
Commercial work is quoted, not listed
Commercial roofs vary too much for a price list to be honest about them. Tell us the address, the rough area and what you are trying to find out, and you will get a figure for that building rather than a range. What moves it:
Roof area and how cut up it is
A clean 20,000 sq ft field flies faster than 8,000 sq ft broken into four levels with equipment everywhere. Complexity drives time more than size does.
Visual, thermal, or both
A thermal moisture survey has to be flown in a specific window after sunset, in the right conditions, which makes it a separate visit rather than an add-on minute.
Airspace
Parts of the Birmingham metro sit in controlled airspace. Authorisation is usually quick, but it has to be in hand before the day.
What the report has to carry
A maintenance walk-round and a claim-grade documentation package are different pieces of work, even when the flight is identical.
Travel
Walker County and the surrounding counties are routine. Further afield is still fine; it just shows up in the quote rather than hiding in it.
Residential roofs are simpler and are priced openly — see roof inspection.
Common questions
How long does a commercial survey take on site?
A straightforward single-level roof is usually an hour or less in the air. Larger or more complex roofs take longer, and a thermal survey is a separate evening visit because the useful window is short.
Do you need roof access?
No. Nothing is walked and nothing is opened up. We launch from the ground, which means no hatch key, no fall-protection plan and no tenant disruption.
Do you quote the repair?
Never. We do not sell roofing work and we do not take referral fees from anyone who does, so there is nothing for us to gain by finding a problem that is not there. You take our findings to whichever contractor you choose.
Can you work around tenants and business hours?
Yes, and usually we prefer to. A visual survey is quiet and over quickly. Thermal has to be flown after dark anyway, which suits occupied buildings.
Will this support an insurance claim?
We document condition and date it. Dated imagery from immediately after an event is materially stronger than photographs taken weeks later. We do not adjust claims or state what a policy covers — that is the adjuster’s job.
What about a roof with solar on it?
That is a good candidate for thermal. The array itself shows failed cells and strings as hot spots, and the roof underneath is exactly the area a maintenance programme tends to skip.
Can you do this on a schedule?
Yes. Twice a year is the usual arrangement, and a standing schedule means the comparison between visits is like for like — same altitude, same angles, same overhead. That comparison is where the value is.
Find out what the roof is actually doing.
Call (205) 567-0548, or send the address and the rough square footage and we will come back with a figure and a date.