Channel Islands · Thermal imaging & leak detection

Find the leak, damp & heat loss — without scaffolding

Chasing a leak you can’t see? Thermal imaging can reveal trapped moisture, hidden leaks and missing insulation that a normal visual survey walks straight past — all from the air, with no scaffolding and nothing opened up. A differentiator we offer across Jersey, Guernsey & the Channel Islands.

Enquire about a thermal survey What it reveals
CAA-licensed · Non-invasive · No scaffolding, nothing opened up · Flown in around an hour · Report in 2–3 days
What it reveals

What a thermal & leak-detection survey can show

A standard visual survey shows what the roof looks like. Thermal imaging adds what’s happening just beneath the surface — by picking up the temperature differences that wet, missing or failing materials give off. It can help reveal:

  • Trapped moisture — water held in the build-up of a flat roof long before it shows inside
  • Hidden leaks — the wet path behind the surface, often metres from where the drip appears
  • Missing or wet insulation — cold spots and saturated areas that have stopped working
  • Heat loss — where warmth (and money) is escaping through the roof
  • Flat-roof membrane faults — splits and failing seams letting water track underneath
  • Damp behind the visible surface — areas reading colder or warmer than the roof around them

Results are strongest after rain or at dusk, when the temperature difference between wet and dry areas is at its clearest. We pair it with a standard drone roof survey so you get both the visual condition and what’s going on underneath.

How it works

Non-invasive — nothing opened up

Traditional leak-finding often means scaffolding, lifting materials and a fair amount of guesswork. Thermal imaging works differently:

  • From the air — the whole roof is covered without ladders or scaffolding
  • Non-contact — we don’t open up, cut into or disturb the roof to look
  • Whole-roof view — thermal patterns are read across the surface, not just where you expected the problem
  • Timed for clear results — flown after rain or at dusk when temperature differences show best
  • Fast on site — the flight itself usually takes around an hour
  • Backed by a written report — produced with a professional roofing contractor and RICS Technology Partner

Thermal imaging is a detection aid: it narrows the search to where the problem is, so any repair is targeted rather than exploratory. Where a job needs specialist thermal or leak-detection work, we scope it with you first and arrange the right approach for that roof.

When to use it

When a thermal survey earns its keep

It’s the survey to reach for when the eye alone isn’t enough — when something is clearly wrong but the cause is hidden:

  • A persistent leak with no obvious source you can’t pin down
  • Damp patches or staining appearing on ceilings and walls
  • Unexpectedly high heating bills pointing to heat loss
  • Flat roofs, where trapped moisture is common and hard to spot
  • After a storm, to check for water that’s got in but not yet shown
  • As an upgrade to a pre-purchase survey, before you commit to buy

Tracing a leak the hard way? Our guide on finding a roof leak without scaffolding walks through the approach.

Drone thermal and leak-detection roof survey across Jersey, Guernsey and the Channel Islands
What you get

Clear findings you can act on

You don’t just get a set of colourful images — you get them interpreted, with what they mean for your roof and what to do next:

  • Annotated imagery — thermal views with the areas of concern marked up clearly
  • Written findings — what the patterns indicate and where the likely problem sits
  • Insurer-ready — a dated report produced with a professional roofing contractor and RICS Technology Partner
  • Targeted next steps — so any repair work goes straight to the source

A visual drone roof survey starts from £249, and a survey with a full written Roof Health Report from £375. Thermal and leak-detection work is priced per job after a quick scope of what you need — tell us about the roof and we’ll quote it. See the full pricing breakdown, or how it supports an insurance claim.

Thermal & leak-detection surveys — FAQs

Your questions, answered

What is a thermal roof survey?
It’s a roof survey that uses thermal imaging from the air to read the temperature differences across a roof. Wet, missing or failing materials hold and release heat differently to the sound roof around them, so thermal imaging can reveal trapped moisture, hidden damp and heat loss that a normal visual survey can’t see. We typically pair it with a standard drone roof survey so you get both the visual condition and what’s happening beneath the surface.
Can a drone really find a leak?
Thermal imaging is a detection aid rather than a magic box — but it’s a powerful one. Because water changes how an area holds heat, thermal imaging can reveal the wet path behind the surface, which is often metres from where the drip actually appears inside. That narrows the search dramatically, so the repair can be targeted at the real source instead of guessed at. It works best after rain or at dusk, when the temperature difference between wet and dry areas is clearest.
Do I need to open up the roof?
No. That’s the main advantage. The survey is non-invasive and non-contact — we don’t cut into, lift or disturb the roof to look, and there’s no scaffolding. The whole roof is covered from the air, so you get answers without the cost and disruption of opening up before you even know where the problem is.
When’s the best time to do a thermal survey?
After rain or at dusk, when there’s a clear temperature difference between wet and dry areas of the roof. Damp and trapped moisture show up most strongly when the roof is cooling or drying at a different rate to the sound material around it, so we time the flight to get the clearest possible results — weather permitting.
Does it work on flat roofs?
Yes — flat roofs are one of the best uses for it. Trapped moisture in the build-up of a flat roof is common and very hard to spot by eye, and it can sit there for a long time before it shows inside. Thermal imaging can highlight those wet areas and membrane faults, so you can deal with them before they cause real damage.
Will a thermal survey help with an insurance claim?
It can. We produce a dated, insurer-ready report with annotated imagery and written findings, made with a professional roofing contractor and RICS Technology Partner. That gives you clear evidence of where water is getting in and the likely source — exactly the kind of documentation that supports a claim or a repair quote.
How much does a thermal roof survey cost?
A visual drone roof survey starts from £249, and a survey with a full written Roof Health Report from £375. Thermal and leak-detection work is quoted per job after a quick scope, because it depends on the roof and what you need to find. Tell us about the property and we’ll give you a fixed price before any work goes ahead.
Chasing a leak or damp?

Let’s find the source — from the air

Tell us what you’re seeing — the leak, the damp patch, the heating bill — and we’ll scope a thermal and leak-detection survey and give you a fixed quote. Jersey, Guernsey and the wider Channel Islands.

Enquire about a thermal survey
Capture (C.I) Limited
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Capture (C.I) Limited · CAA-licensed drone roof surveys across Jersey, Guernsey & the Channel Islands · 07797 762644