Floor moisture meters for testing on wood & concrete flooring

Moisture testing before installation of a floor covering

It is essential to measure the moisture content and relative humidity of a subfloor to make sure that it meets manufactures’ specifications and industry standards to be considered dry enough for the adhesive or floor covering to be installed.

Moisture content testing of a concrete subfloor is usually carried out and completed before the flooring installer arrives on site. The concrete subfloor is inspected to see if it meets the ‘dry’ recommendations set by the flooring covering manufacturer. These tests can be carried out with Tramex concrete moisture meters, RH probes, moisture content probes and surface thermometers. These are available in specifically designed concrete moisture test kits.

Moisture testing of wooden subfloors such as OSB or Plywood subfloors can be carried out with the Pin Probe mode of either the Tramex Concrete Moisture Encounter CMEX5 or Moisture Encounter MEX5 moisture meters. The Moisture Encounter MEX5 also allows for pinless moisture measurement of wooden subfloors.

Moisture testing after installation of a floor covering

A moisture inspection on an installed floor could be part of a general home or building inspection. It should also be carried out in the case of floor failure. This may be due to an incorrect flooring installation, or some form of water intrusion as a result of flood or water damage. It may be required to inspect both the flooring material and the subfloor to find the cause of floor failure. In the case of water damage, elevated moisture content levels in both the subfloor and the floor covering need to be measured, recorded and analysed until the drying goal has been achieved. 

When conducting a moisture inspection on a floor it is most logical to start with a visual check to see if there are any obvious signs of damage due to moisture issues, such as delamination, warping, buckling or shrinking. It is advisable to always inspect the wider floor area as the origin of the moisture problem might not be visible and could even be in a different location to the damaged area.

How to detect moisture under flooring

A dual-depth pinless floor moisture meter can take measurements at different depths and over a large area can be taken in a short period of time. 

The benefit of the shallow depth feature on the Moisture Encounter 5 (ME5 or MEX5) is that it allows for non destructive testing of installed floor coverings. Because the shallow depth setting reads about 3/8" deep it is not overly influenced by the substrate but can detect moisture just under the floor covering giving you the ability to determine if moisture is causing the floor failure. 

Measurements can be recorded and saved into color-coded moisture maps through the Tramex Meter App and display a visual presentation of the moisture content in a specified floor area. The Tramex water damage restoration and flooring inspection kits contain reliable and accurate moisture meters for both concrete and floor covering materials and have the tools and accessories for further investigation when needed.
 

How to find the best flooring moisture meter

The best flooring moisture meter incorporates reading scales for the different layers of flooring structures. These structures could contain:

• Concrete and cementitious screeds; a quantitative floor moisture meter provides actual moisture content readings. These may be needed to follow flooring manufacturer’s recommendations. The Tramex Concrete Moisture Encounter CME5 and CMEX5 are calibrated to provide quantitative concrete moisture content % readings.

• Wooden and wood type floors; the wood moisture reading scale on a floor moisture meter can measure moisture content %. The scale can be adjusted to read different types of wood. The Tramex Moisture Encounter ME5 and MEX5 moisture meters provides pinless wood moisture content readings. The Moisture Encounter MEX5 and the Concrete Moisture Encounter CMEX5 can be used with a wood pin probe to obtain wood moisture content % readings.

• Laminate flooring; as laminate flooring consists of several different types of materials a Wood moisture equivalent value is provided. The pinless, dual-depth Moisture Encounter ME5 and MEX5 provide comparative moisture value readings.

• Tile; moisture readings in tile will be on a reference or comparative scale and the impedance is adjusted to the material’s density. The pinless, dual-depth Moisture Encounter ME5 and MEX5 provide comparative moisture value readings. 

• Carpet; readings on carpet are comparative. The pinless, dual-depth Moisture Encounter ME5 and MEX5 provide comparative moisture value readings.

• Vinyl flooring including LVP, LVT, SPC and WPC. The pinless, dual-depth Moisture Encounter ME5 and MEX5 provide comparative moisture value readings.

For carpet, vinyl and low density floor coverings, when inspecting installed floor covering for moisture related failures the Moisture Encounter ME5 and MEX5 can be used to look within and beneath the floor covering. Testing will be done on a comparative basis.

The ME5 and MEX5 have scales of varying sensitivity and the scale to use will be determined by the density of the materials (both the floor covering and the substrate). It is advisable to use one of the shallow depth scales as this is best for taking readings in and just beneath the floor covering.