Moisture Meter: For Professional Precision

There are many situations when constructing or renovating a home requires an accurate measure of the moisture in an environment or in a building material. The moisture meter is the tool that tells the pros when moisture levels are too high for proper installation of many things including wood, drywall, plaster, and many other common materials.

Types of Moisture Meters
Though there are different brands and models that come with various features, a moisture meter is one of two basic designs: pin or non-destructive.

The pin type is the older of the two. It has two small pins on one end that are meant to be pushed into the material you are measuring. Pin styles are very accurate; the down side is that you actually need to pierce the material you are measuring which is undesirable in some situations (generally for aesthetic reasons), and rather difficult in others (when dealing with very hard material like ceramic tile).

Non-destructive moisture meters can take a reading beneath a surface without piercing the material. These are often used to detect problem areas in places where excess moisture is suspected, but can also be used to measure the moisture percentage of hardwood and other materials.

What Good is a Moisture Reading?
Moisture readings are helpful in a number of situations, but the main reasons for using a moisture meter are to identify and isolate a problem area or to prevent a problem from occurring.

When installing an item such as tile or hardwood, it is very important to make sure that the moisture underneath is appropriate. If it is not, serious problems could result over time and a lot of good material and hard work could be ruined.

In cases where a problem has already been noticed, moisture readings are helpful in determining the cause, location, and extent of damage. They can save a lot of money both in labor costs by taking any guesswork out of what needs to be replaced or examined. A moisture reading can also tell when a problem is only surface deep, or if there is a need to replace or repair material that adjoins the affected area.

Moisture Meter Features
The price of one of these devices depends on the style of meter and also on its various features. Some are equipped with deep probes to obtain moisture readings far below a surface. Others are programmed to compensate for different materials automatically and can even adjust for reading different species of wood.

A Professional Tool
While some die-hard DIYs might make good use of a moisture meter, they are, in most cases, a tool for contractors. Their designs are becoming more and more user friendly, but like a scalpel or jackhammer, moisture meters are generally a tool of the trade.