Termite find with Infrared

[David P. Valley]

I was performing a home inspection today on a slab-on-grade home today, and discovered excessive Termite damage to a living room hardwood floor. This was a perfect opportunity for me to utilize my IR camera to see if I was able to detect Termite damage behind the finished walls in the same area.

Viola. Wouldn't you know.....The Termite damage was pretty obvious to me. I could detect cold air infiltrating right through the structural studs of the wall and the center portion of the sill area.

If it weren't for my IR camera, I would have told my client to have the wall coverings removed to determine the extent of the damage. Now he knows exactly where the Termite damage is.

Check it out....

"Click to Enlarge"

[Dennis R. Goudreau]

nice Dave, do you think if they were present in mass that they would show up

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by dgoudreau

nice Dave, do you think if they were present in mass that they would show up

It's not the Termites that I'm detecting. It's the structural damage.

If you look at the pics, you can literally see several masses of cold air infiltrating the studs. That is indicative of structural damage.

[Dennis R. Goudreau]

Yes I understand that, but I was wondering if termites in colony give up a signature

[Peter C. Russell]

Dave, just out of curiosity, how did you determine that was structural damage? and not cold air coming in from the slab. Was that an exterior wall?

What kind of verbiage did you use in your report. Very interesting.

[Linas I. Dapkus]

Originally Posted by dgoudreau

Yes I understand that, but I was wondering if termites in colony give up a signature

I think colonies give off heat.

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by prussell

Dave, just out of curiosity, how did you determine that was structural damage? and not cold air coming in from the slab. Was that an exterior wall?

What kind of verbiage did you use in your report. Very interesting.

The Termite damage below this area (hardwood floor) was infested. Yes, it's an exterior wall. That's what lead me to the IR scan of the wall.

If you look at the 2nd pic, you can see cold air infiltrating only the most center part of the wall at the sill area. Note the warmer sills outside the center sill area.

Obvious Termite damage......

Gotta go....kids are nagging me again.

[Dennis R. Goudreau]

so the answer is yes

[jwisecup]

Almost makes me wish we had termites here. too damn cold for most pesky little bugs.

[Peter C. Russell]

Dennis, the pictures that Dave posted actually show the infested area as being cooler.

[Justo Mickey Rivera]

Nice grab

Mic

[Chuck Lambert]

Originally Posted by ldapkus

I think colonies give off heat.

Termites are cold blooded. What gives off the heat signature of a colony is the digestion of the wood fibers from the bacteria within the termite.

Chuck

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by ldapkus

I think colonies give off heat.

As Chuck stated....Termites are cold-blooded creatures. But their metabolic processes will produce heat. Termites also work to control their thermal environment by building moist mud tunnels, which appear as cool spots in the wall cavities. These cool spots and any wood damage within the wall cavities (especially directly on the stud) are quite visible during a thermal scan.

[Peter C. Russell]

Dave, did you any other tools to verify your findings and how did you right it up. Did you use Dual-View for your report.

Sorry for all the questions but I'm finding that I'm getting all kinds of calls to do IR inspections and any info. is helpful.

Did one yesterday where my client just wanted me to find the Pex heat tubing in his kitchen ceiling.

[bdoles2]

This would be a good thread to ask this question. It's been on my mind awhile.

Has anyone here that uses the IR technology ever returned to a customers house as repairs or demo was going on to actually see the type of damage beneath?

This case here would be pretty good for before, during demo, and after shots. I think some photos with before, demo and after would be killer for marketing.