Roof and ceiling leak detection for retail units
A drip through a suspended ceiling can come from a flat roof fifty metres away, a rooflight upstand, a blocked box gutter or the unit upstairs. We trace the water back to where it gets in, so the roofer fixes the right spot the first time.
Retail roofs are mostly flat, mostly out of sight and usually shared. Water that gets through a membrane runs along the deck, follows the purlins and drops through the ceiling wherever it finds a light fitting or a joint. The stain on the tiles tells you where the water came out, and very little about where it came in. Patching the roof above the stain is how the same leak comes back after every storm.
Our engineers combine a drone survey of the roof with thermal imaging from below and moisture readings across the ceiling and walls. On multi-storey centres we test the unit above as well as the roof, because a washroom or plant room upstairs is a common source. The report identifies the entry point with photographs and a marked-up plan, ready for the landlord, the roofer or the insurer.
Signs you have one
- Staining or sagging on suspended ceiling tiles, often near lights and air-conditioning units
- A drip that appears during or after heavy rain and dries up in between
- Water in the light fittings or electrics tripping after a storm
- Ponding on the flat roof that is still there days after the rain
- Blistering, cracked or lifting membrane around rooflights, vents and plant plinths
- A damp smell in the ceiling void or stock room with no plumbing nearby
- Stains that move or grow after the roof has already been patched
- Damp at the top of a wall shared with the unit next door or above
What we do
Rule out plumbing first
A ceiling leak in a centre is as likely to be a washroom upstairs as the roof. We check the plumbing and heating above the stain before anyone climbs onto the roof.
Survey the roof from the air
A drone survey covers the whole roof, rooflights, gutters and plant areas in a single visit without scaffolding, and gives us the photographs that go in the report.
Scan and measure from below
Thermal imaging picks out the wet insulation above the ceiling, and moisture readings show how far the water has spread from the entry point.
Pinpoint the entry
Combining the roof survey with the pattern below, we mark the point of entry on a plan and describe the defect, so a roofer can go straight to it.
Retail considerations
No scaffold on the shopfront
The drone does the high-level survey, so there is no scaffolding blocking the entrance and no cherry picker in the car park during trading.
Landlord, tenant or neighbour
Roofs and the units above are usually the landlord’s responsibility while the damage is the tenant’s. A report that names the source, with photographs, gets the right party moving.
Stock and displays
Water through a ceiling lands on stock. We prioritise finding the entry point quickly and can advise on protecting the area below until the repair is made.
Questions
Do you repair roofs?
We find the entry point and document it. Roof repairs are best done by a roofing contractor, and our report gives them the exact location and the nature of the defect so the repair is a small one.
The stain is right under a rooflight. Isn’t that obviously the source?
Often not. Water tracks along the deck and drops at the first gap, and rooflights are usually that gap. The survey confirms whether the rooflight upstand is leaking or is simply where water from elsewhere comes out.
Can you survey a roof in bad weather?
Thermal imaging and moisture readings from below work in any weather, and a wet roof can show the entry point more clearly. Drone flights wait for safe conditions, so a survey in heavy rain may be split across two visits.
We are on the ground floor of a shopping centre. Is it still a roof leak?
Possibly not. Leaks in ground-floor units often come from the unit above: washrooms, kitchens, plant rooms or a car park deck. We test the level above before the roof, and the shopping centres page covers how that works with centre management.
Will you need access to the unit above?
If the evidence points upstairs, yes, and centre or property management usually arrange it. We tell you as early as possible so the access can be arranged.
Other services.
Most engineers arrive with the full kit, so if the leak turns out to be a different kind, the survey carries on.
Water mains & underground
Supply pipes under car parks, service yards and slab floors. The usual suspect behind a water bill that has quietly doubled.
See the serviceHeating & pipework
Commercial central heating and underfloor systems losing pressure. Tracer gas and thermal imaging find the break with the floor still in place.
See the serviceUnder-floor & slab
Pipes buried in screed beneath tiles, vinyl and timber. Located from above, so the shop floor stays whole.
See the serviceWashrooms & staff areas
Customer toilets, staff kitchens and cleaners’ cupboards. Small rooms with a lot of pipework, and the source of most damp patches next door.
See the serviceDrains & CCTV surveys
Blocked, cracked or leaking drains in service yards and beneath units, surveyed with CCTV drain cameras and pressure testing.
See the serviceDamp & structural ingress
Penetrating damp, basement stock rooms and party walls. Moisture mapping shows what is a leak and what is condensation.
See the serviceWhere this comes up.
Speak to the team about your leak.
One call gets a leak engineer moving. Our methods are non-invasive, so there is usually nothing to dig up, and you get a written report ready for your insurer.
Engineers across England, Scotland and Wales. £5 million public liability insurance.