Thermal Imaging Inspection in Alfama

About our service in Alfama

The quarter is made of houses stuck to one another, with thick masonry walls sitting straight on the ground and no damp-proof course of any kind. In those ground floors the thermal signature of rising damp is recognisable: a colder band following the skirting at a regular height, even along the wall and most marked where the room backs onto the bank. Lateral infiltration draws itself differently, as an irregular patch with a point aimed at its source, and condensation shows up mainly in corners and at thermal bridges, where the surface sits colder than the rest of the room. Three different readings, and three different repairs. The inspection needs preparation. We ask for the house to be shut up and heated for a few hours beforehand, so that there is contrast, and for furniture against the suspect walls to be pulled away, because a wall behind a wardrobe gives no reading at all. We work room by room, record thermogram and photograph in the same framing, and confirm the critical points with a contact moisture meter. Many of these requests come from people considering buying in Alfama: an inspection before completion shows what fresh limewash and newly painted walls hide rather well. There are limits we set out at the start. The camera measures surface temperature, does not see inside the wall and does not measure water content directly; it is the combination with the contact meter and with the history of the building that gives the images their meaning. In very thick walls the thermal response is slow and needs favourable conditions to be legible at all. When doubt is left, the honest step is opening up at one point, never a guaranteed diagnosis at a distance. Nor do we issue habitability certificates: what we hand over is a technical survey with images and recommendations in order of priority.

A thermographic inspection in Alfama takes in:

Services Included

• Screening for rising damp in old ground floors and cellars
• Telling lateral infiltration, condensation and rising water apart
• Locating leaks and concealed waste pipes inside thick walls
• Pre-purchase inspection of old property in the historic quarter
• Written report with thermal images and recommendations by priority

Areas We Serve

We work around the Castelo, in the Mouraria, by the Sé, in Santa Apolónia and on the Escadinhas de São Miguel, carrying the equipment by hand where the van cannot reach.

Work Gallery