Hardwood Floor Moisture Test

When moisture testing engineered wood flooring you can t simply set your meter to test the wear layer species and then run the same testing you would on a similar solid board.

Hardwood floor moisture test.

The best way to check the moisture level of your subfloor and floorboards is to buy rent or borrow a moisture meter. To determine if your hardwood floors need to be acclimated you can use a wood floor moisture test. All of the materials within the depth of signal penetration can. In general 12 moisture or above is too wet to install flooring.

Ideally it should be between 7 and 9. The most accurate measurement for moisture content in wood is the oven bake out. Especially test areas near exterior wall plumbing and ac ducts. Flooring installers must know the moisture content of the wood flooring as well as the subfloor.

How to test for moisture. Three methods for testing concrete moisture levels. Then the hardwood flooring moisture content must be within 2 4 of the subfloor moisture. If installing wooden floors these meters can double as a hardwood floor moisture meter.

Moisture can cause many types of flooring to bow warp or bubble. Moisture testing for wood flooring and wood subfloors. This non invasive testing method is perfect for flooring installers who want to double check their wood flooring since it doesn t leave any pinholes in the wood being tested. 2 for plank 3 wide or more hardwood and 4 for strip 2 wide hardwood.

When testing the wood flooring test 20 planks per 1000 sqft. Pinless meters tend to be the fastest for checking large amounts of wood flooring while pin type wood moisture meters tend to be better at pinpointing the depth of a moisture pocket in wood. Hardwood floors the maximum subfloor moisture level will be either 12 or 13 depending upon the manufacturer. Overall most people prefer to use pinless moisture meters like the proscan for testing hardwood floors because they can test moisture in wood without.

Before you lay the first plank you must ensure that the moisture level in the concrete subfloor is low enough that it will not affect your flooring. Acclimating floors in a room with a high moisture content will only make things worse. Moisture can cause organic flooring materials such as solid hardwood engineered wood cork or bamboo to degrade or rot. A lot of flooring contractors like to use this as a secondary wood moisture meter because it s fast easy to use and non destructive to their wood flooring.

Determining moisture content is an essential part of quality control within the flooring installation process. Test 20 spots on the subfloor per 1000 sqft. Before you acclimate or install your new flooring you should first perform a moisture test. First test the moisture level of the subfloor.