What is a normal moisture meter reading?
In the home inspection world, a moisture meter is often the most common tool used to detect problem levels of moisture. These are not only easy to use but also can be very accurate in some cases. However, it’s important to understand how the meter functions and what its readings actually mean before you can confidently use them in a home inspection.
Moisture Content (MC)
The MC of any material is simply the amount of water it contains compared to its dry weight. For example, if a piece of wood weighs 12 pounds, 2 lbs of that is water and it has an MC of 20%.
When measuring the MC of any material, it is important to remember that all materials have different thresholds for what’s considered damp or dry. For example, a typical acceptable moisture content by weight in wood ranges from about 6% to 32%.
Depending on the type of meter you’re using, the readings may be displayed as an analog scale or as a digital number concrete moisture meter. The analog scale shows the reading on an analog gauge, and the digital number displays the reading as a percentage on a screen.
Reference Scales
Most moisture meters have a scale dedicated to wood and a scale for non-wood materials, such as concrete, that range from 0 to 100, where 0 is bone dry and 100 is saturated. The 0 to 100 scale allows you to get an overall idea of how moist a material is without having to specifically test it for its moisture content. Most meters offer a third, more-specific reference scale that measures gypsum and can show readings from 0.2 to 50% moisture content.
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