I just ran across a brief You Tube video about using thermal imaging to document missing grout in CMU walls and was wondering if any of you have done this.
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If you mean vertical filler for the CMU units, under the right circumstances, I have done it.
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Can you share a link to this video ? Please and thank you. 
Whenever I implement infrared thermography, during a exterior assessment, all scanned areas are observed for thermal anomalies.
How would a home inspector using thermal imaging attribute missing grout in CMU voids unless drawings can conclusively draw a correlation that grout was required in that/those sections.
It’s interesting as an added tool if you’re the special inspector onsite during construction. But it doesn’t eliminate the requirement for clean outs at the bottom of the cells during high lift grouting. Or the requirement to vibrate each cell during construction.
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I have been paid to do it…
Nothing I consider during a normal inspection.
While working on a shopping center inspection with Dale Duffy and Jeff Moore in Arizona, I overheard the client and his structural engineer talking about the engineer’s inability to determine barge beams, grouting, and other items inside of the CMU’s. Seeing I had nothing better to do thermally during high noon I showed the engineer what I could see with the thermal imager and they added this service into the inspection.
I would say that most contractors and engineers don’t realize that this service can be performed which is the reason there is not that many calls for it.
I was hired specifically for a job to determine grout fill a contractor. When I showed up, there were no windows or doors installed yet (nor your an HVAC system). Fortunately there was a black waterproofing coating on the exterior of the wall which absorbs significant solar radiation and I was able to complete the project with ease.
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