Electronic leak detection in Florida
Electronic leak detection (ELD) finds the exact point of a breach in a waterproofing membrane, without cutting it or flooding it. The technician puts a test voltage across the membrane; current can only cross where something is wrong, and the equipment follows it to the opening. It is the close-out test to run before the first storm runs its own.
Where the water gets in down here
A membrane fails at its interruptions: seams, penetrations, flashing transitions, terminations. In a wind-driven rain event, water does not need a hole you could see. It needs a path, and pressure will find it.
Electronic leak detection puts an electrical potential across the membrane and follows the current to the one place it can get through. It works on a roof that is already built, without flooding the structure, and it finds breaches far smaller than a visual inspection will ever pick up.
Which matters more here than most places. A breach that would take two years to show itself in a mild climate can be a claim after one season of driving rain.
What the test runs to
The guide covering electronic methods for locating breaches in a waterproofing membrane.
The practice for low-voltage electronic scanning specifically.
High-voltage and low-voltage testing both, carried in-house, so the roof picks the method.
The full package, including scope language you can paste into a specification, is on the specification page.
Low voltage or high voltage
Chosen by the condition of the roof on the day, not by what we happen to own.
Low voltage
A thin film of water on the membrane carries the signal. Suits a membrane over a conductive deck, and works on finished surfaces including under overburden in many cases.
High voltage
A probe sweeps the dry membrane and arcs at a breach. Suits roofs that cannot be wetted, and finds pinholes a water-based method can miss.
Tell us the membrane, the deck and whether there is overburden, and we will tell you which one the roof needs before anyone gets on a plane. The full comparison is on electronic testing versus flood testing.
We do not sell the repair we just found
Atlantic Testing Services is not a roofing contractor and does no remediation work. We perform non-destructive testing only.
On a close-out test that independence is the whole product. A report from a firm that also bids the repair is worth less to an owner, less to an insurer, and less to the contractor trying to prove the work was sound. Ours says what we found and stops there.
You get a marked roof plan locating every breach, photographs of each, and a re-test of the repairs.
ELD questions
Does electronic leak detection work under pavers or overburden?
Low-voltage scanning works on finished surfaces including under overburden in many cases, which matters on Florida plaza decks and amenity terraces, where the membrane disappears under pavers, planters and pool surrounds. The right time to test is before the overburden goes down; after it is down, tell us the build-up and we will tell you what is testable.
Is ELD a replacement for flood testing?
For locating breaches, yes, and it is the safer test: it finds the exact breach point without loading the structure with water, and it can run on a finished roof. Flood testing tells you that a membrane leaks; electronic testing tells you where.
What does electronic leak detection cost in Florida?
The drivers are roof or deck area, the method the assembly needs (low or high voltage), how much overburden handling is involved, and mobilization. Booked together with a moisture survey, the tests share one trip, and against an exploratory tear-off or a warranty dispute, the testing is a small fraction of the cost.
When in a Florida project should ELD be scheduled?
At close-out on new work, before overburden covers the membrane, and after storm repairs when an owner or insurer wants proof the membrane is tight. Many specifications and warranties now require an integrity test by name. If yours does, send us the spec language and we will match the test to it.
Tell us about the roof
Membrane, deck, roughly how big, where it is, and what stage the job is at. If electronic testing is not the right tool for it, we will tell you that instead.