CASE STUDY
Cranbrook Public Works
Cranbrook, BC
The City of Cranbrook’s Public Works facility is a 19,300 sq ft operations building showing the typical surface wear of an aging membrane — granule loss, alligatoring, ridging, and weathered sealant at penetrations. Ahead of routine capital planning, the City retained Pinpoint to confirm whether that surface wear had progressed into actual moisture intrusion.
Pinpoint’s team scanned the entire roof, combining daytime capacitance moisture scanning with a nighttime infrared drone pass and three destructive core cuts — carefully distinguishing real moisture from the false positives that metal fasteners and insulation-board ridging can cause on a scan.
19,300
Sq Ft Roof Surveyed
0%
Significant Moisture Detected
3
Core Cuts, All Dry
B
Overall Condition Grade
Apr
2026 Survey Completed
// Survey Scope & Methodology
Filtering false positives from real moisture
Pinpoint scanned the full roof using an RWS roof scanner and Tramex Dec Scanner, cross-verified with a Moisture Encounter MEX5 handheld probe and a DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise nighttime thermal drone pass. Three core cuts were taken at flagged locations — Core #1 read 5.6% (dry), and a second elevated reading at a metal fastener was confirmed as a false positive caused by the fastener’s conductivity, not trapped moisture.
The team also flagged linear ridging tied to insulation-board joints, which can mimic moisture signatures in nighttime infrared scans — distinguishing this membrane telegraphing from genuine anomalies before drawing conclusions.
// What We Found
A dry roof, once the false readings were ruled out
All three core cuts and the surrounding capacitance and probe readings confirmed dry conditions across the assembly — no significant moisture was detected anywhere on the 19,300 sq ft roof. Nighttime thermal imaging showed uniform surface temperatures with no anomalies indicating trapped moisture; minor hot spots traced back to penetrations, fasteners, and surface variation rather than wet insulation. Common age-related wear — granule loss, ridging, and weathered sealant — was noted but does not currently threaten the roof’s performance.
Full Roof Field
19,300 sq ft · No significant moisture
Core Cuts #1–#3
All confirmed dry, one 5.6% reading
Fastener & Ridging Zones
False positives ruled out on inspection
Recommendation
No moisture-related remediation is required — the roofing assembly is performing as intended. Pinpoint recommended continued routine inspection to track the age-related surface wear already present, with no immediate capital action needed.
Project Participants
Client :
City of Cranbrook / Garland Canada
Location:
201 Cobham Ave W, Cranbrook, BC
Roof System:
Low-slope membrane, tapered insulation
Survey Method:
RWS scanner, Tramex Dec Scanner + MEX5, DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise thermal drone
Delivered by:
Pinpoint Diagnostics Group
Cranbrook Public Works
Case Study PDF