Standard construction studs such as 24 and 26s are typically dried to 19% moisture content before they are installed. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has specific installation guidelines for wood flooring and how they relate to moisture content. Kimberly, I highly recommend that you call in a mold testing/inspection company to determine if mold is present. Walls in homes with healthy humidity levels typically have a moisture reading between 12-15%. They said if i wanted to spend the money, a humidifier would help keep the humidity inside the house more consistent throughout the year. The ideal moisture content for hardwoods is between 6% and about 9%, depending on the ambient conditions around the wood. Obviously, if the user fails to do this, the reading wont be accurate. The chart below will clear things up. Thank you so much for your time and expertise. Measuring ceiling drywall ( 2 layers, upper and lower) into floor assembly above the ceiling. I can only assume that the floor is installed and you are reading through the wood into the subfloor. Other than causing structural damage, too much water can result in mold growth. 1. in Indonesia there are a lot of raw materials consisting of natural fibers, such as: pandanus, water hyacinth, rattan etc. Softwoods typically have higher moisture content than hardwoods. This is the first time Im coming to know that there are acceptable moisture levels when it comes to wood and whatnot. A high reading in one area indicates a problem that must be corrected. Failure to do this will result in warping, cracking, and other problems after the construction of the wood product. The angle iron will prevent much warping, and I do plan on finishing all sides (and ends). One note is that we did have some fungus growth in our crawlspace during the construction phase prior to the crawlspace being sealed and had the contractor come and spray and clean the floor joists and subflooring where applicable. Chris. This means the weight of the water exceeds the weight of the wood by itself. The solution? The gadget is available at Sephora stores in the US. Check out this video by YouTuber WagnerMeters to see how to use a drywall moisture meter: As the name suggests, the hay scale moisture meter is used for detecting the moisture content of hay. Thanks!!! Best of luck with your project. If the MC of plywood is above 20%, can it be redried in a kiln or would that harm the glue? Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Yes, the wood can still be read for MC with a stain on it. Part of knowing how to understand moisture meter readings to get accurate results is understanding the capabilities of the meter itself and ensuring the meter is in the correct reading mode. Different materials will have physical properties that make them react differently when tested with a moisture meter. If the moisture content of the product is well outside the range of optimal MC, the wood flooring should not be accepted because it will lead to shrinkage, bowing, cupping, and other physical problems. 2. One of the beauties of spar is that it allows the wood to move quite a bit, while still retaining good adhesion. Although some movement can be expected between 6% and 9%, wood flooring can shrink or swell more dramatically outside this range. There are 2 main types of moisture meters: pin-type and pinless. I dialed the 800 number for Wagner meters and all I got was two sales pitches for a Life alert type device. Therefore, lumber intended for interior use should be dried to a moisture content of approximately 6% to 8% and kept at this moisture content both before and during manufacturing. Because the moisture content of wood is equal to the weight of the water in the wood divided by the weight of the wood without the water, its possible for the moisture content to exceed 100%. I strongly recommend using a moisture meter, along with a thermo-hygrometer, or even a smart logger before you start building, to ensure the wood is at an optimal moisture content in an environment that has an acceptable relative humidity and temperature range. The same study showed a 40% loss in joint strength and concluded that a 20% MC may significantly compromise shear resistance of exterior walls. Best, Kyle. I had a pin meter but found I had to put the pins in the ends or try to find an area that wouldnt be seen, so Im thinking a pinless might be better. In general, a reference scale goes from 0 to 100, where 0 is bone dry and 100 is saturated. This building was constructed around 1966 and this little space appears very dry, in spite of a recent leak from an nearby hot water tank. Home Moisture Meters Wood Division Knowledge Base Moisture Content What Do These Moisture Meter Readings Mean? Thanks for the very informative post. New roof first week of November. I have seen home built in the dead of winter, covered in snow, and still dry out enough for a successful home build. i cored out a small section of the bottom beam (3 inches wide) all the way down to the foundation. Any advice would be appreciated. Wagners Orion series of meters are the most accurate wood moisture meters on the market. Varying humidity levels can cause wood to lose or gain water and shrink or expand. I removed an of the foam insulation. One of his own service guys said foundation caps needed to be replaced. Not using the correct procedure. When you do this, you not only ensure that the entire batch is okay on average, but youre also far likelier to catch boards that are statistical outliers and could cause problems. We ripped out the wet drywall and insulation and have a fan to dry out the wood. Percent moisture content in wood is the ratio of the weight of water compared to the overall weight of a piece of wood. Because pinless meters are calibrated using specific gravity as the standard for measurement, random changes in SG for a material can impact the accuracy of their moisture readings. Once the wood samples weight stops changing, its weight is compared to what it was before the drying process began. We have started to import teak outdoor furniture from Indonesia into Europe. The company they hired measured 47% in the wood and declares that this must be ripped out and replaced. As a result, the normal moisture meter reading for these materials in between 0.5% and 1%. So make sure to check the baseline regularly and verify if its still reliable for your tests and checks. He wants to install his companys system, seal all external openings around connections, etc. So, when testing different building materials, its important to check for these kinds of flaws. Thanks for writing in. This method uses the oven-dry method and then compares the results to those obtained using a moisture meter. Learn how your comment data is processed. A quality moisture meter is a perfect tool for spotting wood moisture issues before they become big problems. It is not uncommon for wood to expand or contract as much as a 1/8 per foot of width, so maintaining a stable environment is important. Is this accurate? Timber logs & Lumber into India company remained actively involved in harvesting and sale of Hardwood logs of Indian origin. Sorry that this is so long-winded and I thank you in advance if you are willing to address this question for me. Sincerely, Alison. This pinless meter is accurate, Ive got 2 other pin moisture meters and all 3 of them read within only 1-3% difference as checked on wood structures. In other words, a moisture meter calibrated for wood is said to have a wood moisture reading scale, whereas a meter calibrated for drywall has a drywall moisture reading scale. Pin-type meters are also sensitive to the woods chemical makeup, which varies according to species. our question is do we need to replace the floor to avoid fungal problems? Should you check moisture levels on a trailor floor on a massive rainy day? It works best to measure the moisture of haystacks. However, kiln drying is used to speed up the process. In other words, the wood was either too wet or too dry. With pin meters, the standing water on the top of a piece of wood can cause the electrical current to be routed through the water instead of the material being tested. Now if you are testing e exterior wood that has direct contact with the surrounding humidity, you can tolerate values that are up to 20%. I just bought a live edge slab of Cherry from a local sawmill that was kiln dried. We will be having a deck built off my woodshop. For example, if the temperature in the room is around 80 F, and the RH is 50%, then a safe level of moisture in the wall would be about 9.1% MC. The ASTM D4442 standard determines the accuracy of wood moisture meters. This means a very absorbent wood can retain more water, weight wise, the weight of the wood itself. A pin moisture meter will remain accurate between temperatures of 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 32.2 degrees Celsius). Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material, https://research.cnr.ncsu.edu/blogs/wpe/files/2016/08/Equilibrium-Moisture-Content-of-Exterior-Wood-in-the-US.pdf, https://www.wagnermeters.com/shop/orion-950-smart/, http://www.csgnetwork.com/emctablecalc.html, https://www.spikevm.com/calculators/logging/equilibrium.php, https://www.wagnermeters.com/shop/orion-910-deep/, https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=j6WRW76_NdmT0PEPkN29kAc&q=wood+moisture+content+and+mold&oq=moisture+content+and+mold&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i22i30l3.8963.15970, Restoration Expert Says Moisture Management Critical to Health of Any House or Building, Correct Moisture Content: Critical to Your Woodworking Projects, Mckinleyville Middle Schoolers Learning about Wood Moisture Content, Ambient Data Loggers: Peace of Mind in a Box for Wood Flooring Installers, 5 Things Not to Do When Measuring Moisture in Wood Flooring, Alabama Wood Crafters Share Wood Woes When Overlooking a Moisture Meter. Which Orion moisture meter model would you suggest for my application? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". So a normal moisture meter reading on wood cannot be given without knowing what type of wood we want to check and for what end. Therefore, all wood moisture meters must be calibrated before use. This happens when the moisture inside the wood reaches a balance or equilibrium with the relative humidity (RH) and temperature of the woods surrounding environment. Good luck. For nearly all interior wood applications (and even some outdoor ones), wood needs to be dried to a moisture content appropriate for the environment where it will ultimately be used. Thats why I think the wood is either not dried to 14%, or it has picked up too much humidity after drying. hellow! The inspector said his meter reading taken from my basement on subflooring/joists/framing was too high. Specifically in the first 3-4 on one side of the door is 11%, then drops to ~8%. Insert the pins into the surface of the wood you want to test. For example, a small 1/32 change per 2 multiplied across an 8-foot room equals 1 . Reference scales can have arbitrary number ranges such as 0-255, 0-300, or 0-100. If you find higher values, then your drywall might already have a high MC that could spread and damage the entire board. This affects the moisture-holding capacity of the slab and what MC% is considered safe and acceptable. As a general rule, with geographic exceptions, wood flooring performs best when the interior environment is controlled to stay within an RH range of 30% to 50% and a temperature range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. We dont know if we still should be having a commercial drying process? By far, the most common setting during my home inspections are drywall. You wrote that 15% humidity may induce mold? Obviously, the ambient conditions within which the wood or paper is present can alter the MC% of the wood or paper. Slightly higher readings may be normal for your house, but excessively high readings require immediate attention. Ideally, it should be between 7% and 9%. And would it be normal for the MC to vary from board-to-board and one end of a board to the other? There are two main ways of measuring wood moisture content: oven-dry testing and moisture meter testing. Wood is a hygroscopic material, meaning it picks up or loses moisture based on the ambient conditions. (EMC) than other pieces of wood, depending on its location. The ideal moisture content will depend on the humidity indoors. There will most likely be some shrinkage, so if possible, choose the clearest boards possible to lessen the possibility of any major cracking. Well, a moisture meter can be wrong depending on the type of moisture meter (pin-type or pinless), the quality, and how its used. Applying a wood species correction to the moisture test results is necessary for ensuring accurate readings.
Wicomico County Obituaries,
What Happened To Frontier Music Channels,
Zack Bruell Coffee,
What Does Each Takeover Do In 2k22 Current Gen,
Articles M
moisture meter readings what is normal