The determination of moisture content is an essential part of quality control within the flooring installation process. Flooring installers must know the dryness of not only the wood flooring, but its subfloor and the concrete slab beneath it, if one exists. Hand-held electrical tools, called moisture meters, should be part of the toolbox of every flooring contractor, for measuring moisture in wooden or concrete subfloors and in the wood floor materials. Working with moisture meters Moisture meters have become one of the most critical tools of the trade, yet they are often neglected by those who need them most - flooring contractors. The installer who continues to work without one is simply jeopardizing his jobs.
Moisture meters have many purposes.
They can determine if floor boards are dry enough for an installation to proceed. The probe type, which is the older method, measures electrical resistance across opposed sets of pins, which are pushed into the wood. The higher the moisture content, the lower the resistance. They come with different measurement indicators. Signal penetration for pinless meters is up to 1 inch for both hardwood and softwood.