Hello,

I was curious to see if anyone could give me an idea of what thermographers are charging per square foot for low-sloped roof surveys. I have seen rates from 1 to 2 cents per square foot. On the low-sloped roof webinar, an example was cited using1 cent per square foot, but that was also a large roof (1,000,000 SF.) I know this will most likely differ by geographic location, thermographers capabilities and roof size/complexity, but any suggestions or info would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 -Mike-

Mike,

2-4 cents per sqf would be the norm given you know what your doing. Al Kravitz would be able to give you more info as this is his specialty. I could see 1-cent per sqf on a million plus but anything over 150K for a walk on let alone a million would not be feasible. I suggest doing aerial infrared(unbelievable quality) and getting ahold of Stockton at www.aitscan.com for the larger jobs. I have a customer with a 600K+ roof and I would not consider a walk on, too big, too many elevations, to many obstacles on the roof.........my 2-cents if you will.

---

Jeff Gadd
Vision Infrared Services
www.visioninfrared.com

Thank you for the information Jeff.

I am currently assessing my capabilities given my equipment and experience. I'm being very careful what I take on as I am just starting to look at low-sloped roofs. Given my mechanical engineering background in thermodynamics, as well as my previous construction experience, I know quite a few people who manage facilities with low-sloped roofs. I've been doing quite a bit of "Pro Bono" work with these individuals to gain experience and determine my limitations. Although tempting, I would not take on anything that I believe is beyond my capabilities and Stockton would be a good contact to have in these situations.

I will most likely exhaust my current contact base through free inspections to gain experience. And though I will most likely try and sell them on yearly preventative maintence contracts, I was curious what other thermographers who deal primarily in low-sloped roofs do to develope their customer base. I imagine that actually finding the correct person to talk to for a larger facility may be difficult to determine, as in many cases the people in the building are often leasing from the actual owner of the building. In my research I have come by the organization "BOMA", which is the National Association of Building Owners and Managers. I was curious to see if anyone had any experience with this organization and if membership would be beneficial. BOMA has a directory search to find building owners and managers in a particular area, but in order to search you have to be a member as well.

Thanks again for the info.

 -Mike-

Mike,

I got my hands on a Boma Directory(hardcopy) and I don't think it's all that. You would have to join as an "associate" member for $800-$1200 a year. Looking through this book it is full of service groups.(janitorial service, elevator maint, roofers,security, you name it...60% and then maybe 40% building owners, property managers. I don't want to discourage you but I'm not going to join, like I said it seems like a larger group trying to sell goods & or services to the smaller group. I'm sure this has a few good contacts in it if you can waid through the rest of it. Send me an email if you want to know more.

 jeff@visioninfrared.com

---

Jeff Gadd
Vision Infrared Services
www.visioninfrared.com

Thanks again Jeff. That definitely makes me think twice about investing money in becoming a member.

I was trying to find the best way to get in touch with the right people rather than venturing down several dead-ends.

-Mike-

Mike,

Where are you located and how much do you know about low slope roofng. I may be able to help you get some contacts.

 

Al Kravitz

Roof Consultants, Inc.

www.roofconsultantsinc.com

alkrav@roofcosultantsinc.com

---

Al Kravitz
Roof Consultants, Inc.
alkrav@roofconsultantsinc.com
www.roofconsultantsinc.com

Al,

I am located in Oklahoma City but I am willing to travel in-state and out-of-state. To be perfectly honest, I am fairly new to low slope roofing, but have been trying to absorb as much information as possible. I've done approximately a dozen IR roof surveys in the last couple months, all of them at no cost to the owners. I have been trying to gain experience on free surveys rather than make mistakes on paying customers by jumping right in the mix. My free customers are building owners I've known from my previous work experience as an owner of a residential building company, so they are aware that this is a relatively new venture for me and I make them well aware that they should not place too much emphasis on my results until I am able to gain more experience and validate my findings with their roof systems.

In addition to the dozen free inspections I've conducted, I have completed the Level 1 training at Snell, viewed their low sloped roof webinar, and am currently studying the "Manual of Low-Slope Roof Systems: Fourth Edition" to familiarize myself with the various types of Low-Slope roofing systems and their construction teqniques. I also have a mechanical engineering degree specializing in thermodynamics, so I am quite familiar with heat transfer methods. I do conduct my surveys accoring to ASTM C 1153.

If you would have any contacts in my area I would greatly appreciate it. As well as any advice you might be able to offer.

Thank you for your time,

-Mike-

 

Mike Leonard

Crystal Clear Thermal Imaging, Inc.

www.crystalclearti.com

mike@crystalclearti.com

 

 

Mike,

You are going about things in the right way.

Learn all you can about roofing before making any recommendations.  I have seen many cases where thermographers with little or no experience in roofing did a scan and totally misread the images.  I highly recommend you attend Firestone's Building Products University.  This is a free or very low cost ($50.00) three day seminar on low slope roofing where you will learn alot.  I also think Johns Manville has a similar progra in Denver.

Check out their websites for more information.

Since you are not operating in my area I'll send you an e mail with some ideas on contacts near you.

Good Luck

---

Al Kravitz
Roof Consultants, Inc.
alkrav@roofconsultantsinc.com
www.roofconsultantsinc.com

I want to second Al's recommendation to learn all you can about roof construction. Many years ago when I had my consulting firm I was "talked into" specifying a reroofing job for a long term client. It was a small roof, under 10,000 square feet and seemed simple enough, especially after I found engineering specs in the back of several roofing manufacturers catalogs that seemed to cover all the details. Long story short, this is the only job that I lost sleep over, as I had overlooked several important design details. A benevolent and experienced contractor saved the day with a work around. Be sure you get a copy of ASTM C 1153, and read it and understand all that it says.

---

Rob Spring, P.E.
ASNT NDT LIII #65375
The Snell Group
rspring@thesnellgroup.com
800-636-9820

All:

 WOW....What a great week this has been to survey roofs and buildings!

We followed the weather all the way across the country. Conditions like we had last week (delta-Ts of 30F degrees from day to night) are what building thermographers live for.

I hope y'all did every roof and building you could do!

Regards,

Greg S.

---

Greg Stockton
Stockton Infrared Thermographic Services, Inc. and United Infrared
(800) 248-SCAN (toll-free)
(336) 498-GREG (voice)
(336) 689-3658 (cell)
www.StocktonInfrared.com
www.UnitedInfrared.com

Maui was great.

 

---

Al Kravitz
Roof Consultants, Inc.
alkrav@roofconsultantsinc.com
www.roofconsultantsinc.com