How to test my timber floor’s moisture content?(1)

It’s an important issue for both professional traders and DIY workers to check the laying timber floor boards’ moisture content, especially before starting a job. We’ve heard more than one case like timber flooring in a dwellings popping up obvious with moisture problem, then a long time dispute at Department of Fair Trading arguing for which involved party’s responsibility.

Sam, from our flooring installation team, shared his experience how to use a moisture meter to avoid falling into such trap.

“As you might have known, moisture content is a percentage of moisture present in wood divided by wood without moisture in it. In Sydney, the average moisture content of timber floor is around 11%, too high or too low means potential floor board problems.”

He showed us, “There’re two types of meters used to estimate moisture content, which are the resistance meter and the capacitance meter, they’re very handy tools to help you testing the timber materials.”

“Resistance moisture meters have the benefit of better accuracy, you can get moisture content reading through the depth of the board. More readings provide more confidence in the testing results.

“Capacitance moisture meters have the benefit of being able to provide quick readings without leave marks on floor boards. However, they are not considered to be as accurate as the first type meter.”

–To be continued.

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