Digital Moisture Meter

[gregbooras]

We have a leak in our wall in our launder room that went unnoticed for awhile. I am in the process of of drying out the room and the walls. Running a dehumidifier for the past three days.

In Florida mold can be a real problem, so I decided to buy a moisture meter (my plan was dual purpose). Right now the trim is in the launder room is at 35 percent (rest of the house trim 2-3 percent, so it I will be running the dehumidifier for at least another week or so.

Anyways, I decided to test all the different wood I have been buying and was a bit surprise. Some of my wood (oak was as little as 3 percent, while the highest was around 12 percent from http://www.fruitawoodchunks.com.

I plan to test some of the local store brands to see what percent they read!

Greg
 

• Tweet
• 

[jcboxlot]

2 to 3 percent for a whole house in FL?   really?

I run a de-humid in my basement here in PA and am happy in the summer when its below 35.  It's 45 or so when I don't run it.   Fairly new house not an old clunker with water issues.   


As a side note I found a wood reader, "mini lingo" at a sale two weeks ago, super expensive new, but note sure how accurate.  It wasn't even close on the superlicious wood I got a month ago or so.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIGNOMAT-D-Ligno-Scanner-D-Moisture-Meter-/331342934989?hash=item4d2593f3cd

[gregbooras]

John,

The baseboard read about 1-2 percent, not the house

I bought a Dr. Meter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008V6I840?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Accurate to about 1 percent.

Greg

[elkins20]

Greg can you get something to check for mold in between the walls. I know that black mold can be a problem especially on sheet rock. 

[jcboxlot]

Got it, wood reader.   You had me worried I was living in Cuba climate!

[gregbooras]

Greg can you get something to check for mold in between the walls. I know that black mold can be a problem especially on sheet rock. 

I think I will be ok, if I can get the humidly down in that room. If not I may need to cut some holes in the dry wall.....

Greg

[elkins20]

Especially where the leak was at and if it was in the wall could present a problem. Unless you had to replace some of the drywall. I had that problem years ago and ended up replacing 2 4x8 feet sheets. I also have found that bleach kills the mold, easy is to get a cheap plastic 2 gallon sprayer and some cheap bleach. Spray it on the mold and will kill it also do not dilute the bleach. After you are finished clean the sprayer tank then run a gallon of water thru the sprayer. Good luck.

[gregbooras]

Especially where the leak was at and if it was in the wall could present a problem. Unless you had to replace some of the drywall. I had that problem years ago and ended up replacing 2 4x8 feet sheets. I also have found that bleach kills the mold, easy is to get a cheap plastic 2 gallon sprayer and some cheap bleach. Spray it on the mold and will kill it also do not dilute the bleach. After you are finished clean the sprayer tank then run a gallon of water thru the sprayer. Good luck.

Thanks Bill.

Greg

[AlinMA]

I decided to test all the different wood I have been buying and was a bit surprise. Some of my wood (oak was as little as 3 percent, while the highest was around 12 percent from http://www.fruitawoodchunks.com.
I plan to test some of the local store brands to see what percent they read!

Greg

Hi Greg, A note of caution....I also have the MD812 and the measuring range is 5%-40% RH so any readings below 5% are suspect. I  went through the exercise of measuring the big box wood and found it to be dry. If I was able to duplicate the measurement in multiple spots on the same chunk then I went with it. As for the wood with the low moisture content, all is not lost. I don't recall who initiated the post but they suggested placing the wood in a sealed container with a wet rag and checking it weekly. It works!
Hope this helps,
Al

[gregbooras]

I decided to test all the different wood I have been buying and was a bit surprise. Some of my wood (oak was as little as 3 percent, while the highest was around 12 percent from http://www.fruitawoodchunks.com.
I plan to test some of the local store brands to see what percent they read!

Greg

Hi Greg, A note of caution....I also have the MD812 and the measuring range is 5%-40% RH so any readings below 5% are suspect. I  went through the exercise of measuring the big box wood and found it to be dry. If I was able to duplicate the measurement in multiple spots on the same chunk then I went with it. As for the wood with the low moisture content, all is not lost. I don't recall who initiated the post but they suggested placing the wood in a sealed container with a wet rag and checking it weekly. It works!
Hope this helps,
Al

Hey Al,

Good stuff to know, right now I have so much wood, it really does not matter. But my neighbor and friend who also owns a #2 smoker, tends to look for deals on the wood. So it will be a good test to see how they compare.

Greg