How long will it take to get to the ideal moisture reading and is it better to be stored in a garage or inside a house? They are currently nearing equilibrium (around 12 MC) and are stored within the house. This only occurs when wood changes moisture content below the fibre saturation point. A dry reading will be 16% MC (Moisture Content) or below. If a board reads 100% (Difficult to measure accurately) then the weight of the water equals the weight of that wood. Thank you for the well described article. Engineering & Inspection Services, Licensed PE - Alabama & Tennessee, JADE Engineering & Inspection | 5405 Whitesburg Dr. One of our new line of moisture meters will help locate areas of high moisture, if it still exists. Hi Larry, So a friend of mine has some pine and oak blabs at MC levels of (oak 11.5%) and Pine 13-14%. Thank you for your very informative knowledge about all of the items on this page. Seattles EMC ranges from 12.2% to 16.5%. The inspector said his meter reading taken from my basement on subflooring/joists/framing was too high. The rim joist and floor joist sit right on the block. This building was constructed around 1966 and this little space appears very dry, in spite of a recent leak from an nearby hot water tank. Its mc is 11- 12% . We dont know if we still should be having a commercial drying process? WMC of framing members in a crawl space will usually be lowest in late winter and highest in late summer. Damn those shop classes I didnt take. Because the moisture content of wood is equal to the weight of the water in the wood divided by the weight of the wood without the water, its possible for the moisture content to exceed 100%. Hello Larry I am from Bangladesh. Effects of Moisture on I-Joists and LVL - Roseburg i also drilled into the wood every few inches, several inches deep with a typical drill bit. This means that wood intended for interior use in this location should not only be dried to around 6% but should be kept at this moisture content both before and during the manufacturing process. What are Acceptable Moisture Levels in Wood? A termite repair company (also licensed contractors) told me that I needed to replace the planks on my second story deck. The optimal humidity in a home is generally 35%-55% and anything under 20% is actually considered unhealthy, as it dries out the skin. We really cant overstress the importance of taking plenty of moisture readings. The wood will still react in humid or dry conditions. I requested the treated lumber be brought in a few weeks prior to build, stickered and put under cover to acclimate and dry it. While playing around with my pinless meter and checking the interior East and west walls on hot days, I notice the moisture content being very high 60% mc to off scale. Joist spans may not be on the minds of most do-it-yourselfers, but joist spans are everywhere: above our heads in the ceiling joists and below our feet as flooring joists. Were so sorry for the inconvenience. Obviously, the ambient conditions within which the wood or paper is present can alter the MC% of the wood or paper. You will want closer to 6% in the drier climates and 9% MC for the more humid climates. I do not have a hygrometer or a moisture meter as I am a hobbyist. I dialed the 800 number for Wagner meters and all I got was two sales pitches for a Life alert type device. That doesnt make much sense to me. The manufacturer of the oil-based poly should have a specification on the maximum allowable moisture content of the wood. Having performed multiple (>500) soil moisture and density Sieve and Proctor, so I am well versed in moisture calculations (both add and subtract). Free Webinar The What, Why, and How of Wood Moisture Testing. In your blog I read that furniture for outdoor is dried to a MC between 9 and 14%. Well, tile, bricks, and stones are known to have a low water-holding capacity and therefore should be dry. Understanding Moisture Content and Wood Movement Thanks for the reply. But this wetness is only surficial. Here is a link to our moisture meters, thermo-hygrometer, and Smart Logger. the curb is built with 3 2/4s stacked on each other. I am not aware of a standard moisture content for packaging food or any other product. Lacquer will not make a reading difference as long as there are no metallic components in the lacquer itself. of water/day/1000 sq. Softwoods, such as spruce, can have more moisture. The pins are pressed into the wood to obtain a reading. Substructures with WMC in this range may show decay or rot in floor joist, sills, and subflooring. can be insulated and heated (insulation is mandatory if heated) require careful planning and . When I purchase it its soaking wet and Ive always given it a few weeks, stickered and covered for at least 2 weeks, sometimes up to a month, to get it down to around 17-19%. Pros and cons of wet area floor finishes - Level how do I determine the mc standard for this material, is it the same as wood or has its own specifications, 2. Repair is often required when WMC readings are in this range. 17 and the flooring is at 6 to 7. Such readings should alert the homeowner to look for a source of excess moisture. Do NOT install the flooring planks until these moisture content levels are achieved. Check joints and bottom plates as moisture can get trapped here. . Thank you, In wood products manufacturing, 6-8% is pretty much the norm, at least in North America. It depends on the size of the project, but anytime you put a waterborne urethane on the wood you are adding moisture to your project. Actually floors account for 15% of building heat loss depending on construction. And it's important to keep in mind that a glued-up panel behaves basically as one wide piece of lumber. Floor Joist Calculator Box 1088, Roseburg, OR 97470 Tel. Leicester, NC 28748 78 0 obj <>stream If so, then you'll want to know. Thats why I think the wood is either not dried to 14%, or it has picked up too much humidity after drying. Lay the panels perpendicular to floor joists, allowing 1/4 inch of space between panels and the wall. The plumber said that the floor has an elevated moisture reading and took a photo showing the 99.9% (maximum reading) on the meter while the meter was on the floor. Retain this information with your records. For wide-width solid flooring (3 or wider), there should be no more than a 2% difference in moisture content between properly acclimated wood flooring and subflooring materials. What is the optimal MC of the fir stock for construction of the windows? I suspect the screws may be skewing the measurements. Moisture content of 11.5% for the oak is a little high for furniture grade hardwoods. How to use a moisture meter properly - BT Preservation | Damp Subfloor material such as plywood or OSB should measure between 10 and 14% moisture content. 10 14% moisture content is too high. The other thing to consider is examining how water is entering your crawl space. Does Brick Veneer Cracking Mean Foundation Problems? We will be having a deck built off my woodshop. Copyright - RLC Engineering, LLC. Floor Joist Sizes & Span in Residential Home Building (Complete Guide) There are two main ways of measuring wood moisture content: oven-dry testing and moisture meter testing. PDF Moisture Content in Wood Structural Members in Residences With Decay This is the standard in the construction industry. PDF Moisture and Wood-Frame Buildings - Healthy Heating They many times cite the need for further evaluations by what they call other so called experts. A moisture content that is too high will also slow the cure of the SLu and can affect the subsequent floor finish. Ideally, you want to check the EMC in the area you will be working on your slab, along with the area it will live in. I never obtained a moisture reading above 16%. As this moisture condenses on the floor system, it wets the wood. This pinless meter is accurate, Ive got 2 other pin moisture meters and all 3 of them read within only 1-3% difference as checked on wood structures. Avoid unnecessary moisture exposure of all wood components by enclosing the frame against adverse weather as soon as feasible. I hope this helps. Currently reading a 12.5%. Thank you. Insert the pins into the surface of the wood you want to test. The engineered wood floor appears ok. When the wood neither gains nor loses moisture, we say that the wood has reached its equilibrium moisture content (EMC). Readings can be elevated if there is a stud directly behind the sheetrock. In general, all wood products will swell with an increase in moisture content and shrink with a decrease in moisture content. Timber logs & Lumber into India company remained actively involved in harvesting and sale of Hardwood logs of Indian origin. I would like to load eucalyptus and pine wood logs to India . endstream endobj 79 0 obj <>stream 18 years ago the moist content (MC) of the beams and joist was 24% in an area of the crawl space that floods in spring. >V@Ica4R%f%l&/R*liDqx/nB*?1MH}Su>VeyZ3?>vMLqcwY^U. The general process for using pin-type moisture meters is as follows. Wood exposed to air with a RH of about 90% will reach a Wood Moisture Content of about 20%. Do you have any recommendations on how to prevent mold from getting on the wood? Thanks for the article, really appreciate the info! I have a question. The cause that may produce this will be discussed in the section "Biodeteration of flood". The installer should then check the moisture content of multiple boards and average the results. Was told thats not done. You can Google moisture content of wood necessary to support fungal growth and see for yourself. The wood joists are not soaked wet, its just a light film of moisture on the wood members. If the leaks have damaged the sub floor or joists, call a licensed general contractor for repair. Not only did the aggressive notching doom this joist, it affected the structural integrity of the floor system above. Houses with timber-framed floors can be at risk of having poor underfloor ventilation. You can now understand the meaning of moisture content 5.5%, 15 g/m2/24 hours, and relative humidity 75% with these facts. He, of course, said that type of product is insufficient. Thanks. Hello Folks, I am new to wood turning and do not have a ready supply of dry/seasoned (my wood is green) wood. If possible, keep indoor humidity below 60 percent (ideally between 30 and 50 percent) relative humidity. I would think at least fixing your dehumidifier is a must. Moisture content in floor systems - Structural Inspections - InterNACHI WME? The home inspectors working for fees today seem to have one primary motive in mind: to cover their liabilities. Learn how your comment data is processed. Indoor humidity is around 50%, indoor temps around 70 degrees. Good luck. Do you agree with this? Kiln-dried wood usually shows a moisture reading of 10% on the outside and then 25% on the inside. Hi Moisture Experts, My house is 25 years old located in Oregon City OR (near Portland). They delivered the wood one day, and began to stain and install it over the next two days, finishing on the 6th day. This should be stuck into your wooden subfloor. Wood is hygroscopic. The fir stock was originally KDd to around 8% but has been covered and stored outside for over a year and currently MC is around 12%. Therefore, just because the wood is kiln-dried doesnt mean it has lost the ability to absorb moisture. Hello I moved into my new home in June of 2018. However, and unless otherwise permitted by a flooring product manufacturer, the following maximum moisture emission levels over a 24 hour period are permissible for the following floor coverings types: I would think it would vary depending on the contents. Here is the one I would recommend: https://www.wagnermeters.com/shop/mmc220-extended-range-moisture-meter/, My potential house in North Carolina Fayetteville area was just checked for moisture content in the crawl space. Knowing were all the piers are, I can stand on top and feel a small hump in the floors. Once the wood samples weight stops changing, its weight is compared to what it was before the drying process began. we are presently constructing a new timber frame residence on ocean front in BC, Canada. For example, if the expected EMC ranges from a low of 6% to a high of 9%, the baseline moisture content of the wood would be 7.5%. I really appreciate your treatise on this matter. The maximum subfloor moisture level for solid strip flooring or wide-width solid flooring is either 12% or 13%, depending on the manufacturer. However, it The interior home conditions are, AC running at 68-70*F. Exterior wall condition 104*F as checked with an IR thermometer of East wall not in the sun. Prior to the re-shim, the pier in the area that floods in the spring could be felt pushing up the floor, meaning the beam is warping and been monitoring it. I have seen home built in the dead of winter, covered in snow, and still dry out enough for a successful home build. They are returning to remove one plank and take it back to see what they can do to meet my satisfaction. Because pinless meters scan the woods surface and cover a larger area than pin-type meters, they provide a more thorough picture of the woods moisture content. Please commenr? Both slab-on-ground and suspended concrete floors for wet areas: are deemed impervious when steel trowel finished or polished. Specifically in the first 3-4 on one side of the door is 11%, then drops to ~8%. My question for you is: after a smallish unheated underground space (similar to a basement, i.e. Wagner Meters has a couple of resources to help you determine the moisture content more suited to your outdoor environment. Its more important to understand that the wood is kiln-dried down to a certain bell-shaped range of MCs. Question: Just to make sure that you get accurate moisture measurements, has your moisture meter been checked for calibration? I gladly obliged. Sorry, that time of year. Continue reading MC in the home. These are typical readings for exterior wood. The solution seems to be drying the wood longer & bettter, to a lower measured MC. Softwoods typically have higher moisture content than hardwoods. ft., and averaging the results. The purpose of the vapor barrier is to keep moisture away from materials that expand and contract. The thickness of flooring joists themselves will be determined by what's going on top of them. Thanks! These are slabs roughly 2 thick. Have I been wrong? Stopping the moisture is much cheaper and easier than repairing the structure. The plywood setting is .57. However, this range will vary slightly according to the geographic region because of varying RH levels. So if I understood the article right and not sure that I did. To achieve this, Acceptable Solution E2/AS1 says that, on near-level sites, the floor level must be no less than 150 mm above the crown of the road or the lowest point of the boundary. Hi Larry, just finished a black Walnut dining room table back in November. SE, Huntsville, AL 35802. A dehumidifier in the crawlspace will help but can be expensive. The EMC in the recommended temperature/humidity range coincides with the 6% to 9% range used by most flooring manufacturers during the manufacturing and shipping process.