Have you ever had to make a call to ask for help with something, but you weren’t sure exactly what to ask for? Did you dread making that call because you didn’t want to sound like you didn’t know what you were talking about to whomever answered the phone? Did you do it anyway, but then stumble through your question, hoping that the person on the other end of the phone could somehow figure out what you needed?
At Enhanced Scanning, we get calls like this every once in a while. The person on the other end is not always sure they’ve even called the right kind of company for the type of work they need. When we get these calls, we always do our best to get to the bottom of what the person is asking for to see if we can help.
It might be a building owner who wants to make some changes to his or her structure, and their architect or structural engineer told them that before they could work on the project, they needed to have their concrete scanned.
As they started their online search for local concrete scanning companies, they probably found some companies offering concrete scanning services using ground penetrating radar (GPR), and others offering concrete X-ray. This likely introduces a whole new set of questions: Which service do they need? What’s the difference? Is one better than the other?
The team at Enhanced Scanning is here to help our customers answer questions like these. But the answer to a question like, “Which type of concrete scanning service do I need?” is “It depends.” We always use the best equipment for the job. For concrete scanning projects specifically, most of the time that means using GPR, but sometimes, it involves a concrete X-ray. If a building has a standard concrete slab with rebar, GPR scanning is likely the way to go. GPR scanning is efficient, affordable, and great at locating rebar (and other embedded items) in a concrete slab. However, if you need a highly detailed scan of the objects within the concrete (and not just their locations), a concrete X-ray may be needed. Unfortunately, a concrete X-ray is much more expensive than a GPR scan and requires that the area be vacated due to the harmful radiation that is emitted.
If additional information about a concrete slab is needed, such as the thickness of the slab, the location of any voids, or a map of the cracks, we will recommend a holistic structural concrete analysis, for which we will bring in additional nondestructive equipment. But no matter what you need when it comes to concrete scanning services, we are here to help! Contact us to schedule service or get your initial questions answered.