The Moisture Measurement Blog

Flooring

Moisture in Concrete, Free vs Bound Moisture

Water in concrete is presented in three stages: as free water held by capillarity, as absorbed water held by surface forces and as bound water held chemically. The ideal method of moisture measurement should quantify amounts of these three states, but this is a difficult task because moisture in concrete is not uniformly distributed, and […]

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Piece by piece the engineered floor is installed under controlled environmental conditions

Moisture is a Challenge when Installing Hardwood Floors

One of the key challenges when installing hardwood floors correctly is ensuring the right moisture conditions. Proper moisture management not only ensures a beautiful, long-lasting floor but also guarantees customer satisfaction and protects the installer’s and floor manufacturer’s reputation. And if moisture problems arise, you, as the installer, want to ensure that the problems cannot […]

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No shrinking and warping with stable wood

When is Wood Stable?

Wood has always been sensitive to changes in moisture content. When its moisture content does not change, wood is stable. Then, shrinking, warping and other unsightly moisture defects will not occur. If cared for properly, woodwork can stay beautiful for a very long time. Click for more info on shrinking and warping.  Relationship between Stable […]

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Tips for Measuring Moisture in Engineered Wood Floors

One of our local customers brought a wide-plank engineered floor. Some of the floor planks were cupped, while other pieces had hairline cracks. We used a dual depth meter to obtain moisture measurements. The cupped pieces were measured at the 1/4″ depth setting and the wood group setting of the hardwood wear layer. The moisture […]

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Wood Species and Measuring Depth Matters for Pinless Moisture Meters

Pinless moisture meters only give accurate percentage moisture contents, when the readings are corrected for different wood species or for the material being measured. In addition, the measuring depth is important. Most meters are calibrated for a fixed measuring depth of ¾” deep. Dual-depth scan moisture meters are available with 2 independent sets of calibrations, […]

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Importance of Measuring Concrete Moisture with In-Situ Probe Test

Why the In-situ Probe Test is important Concrete slabs are an integral part of a building. Excess moisture in a slab will over time be released and can affect the entire building including in particular floor coverings. The ASTM F2170 in-situ probe test was created to accurately measure the moisture that would be released once […]

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Newsletter: Storing and Acclimating Your Lumber

August 2016, Issue No. 18 AT A GLANCE *Storing and Acclimateing Your Lumber * Moisture in Concrete: Free and Bound Moisture Interesting Websites Concrete Floors and Moisture (read more) Scientific article about different methods to measure moisture in concrete. Great information about the different types of water in concrete. (read more) Keep in Touch: PHONE: […]

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Newsletter March 2016: Case Study Floor Covering Failure

March 2016, Issue No. 17 AT A GLANCE *Case Study: Customer Calls with Floor Covering Failure * Why is Wood Cupping and Shrinking? Interesting Websites Popular Woodworking Magazine: Moisture Meters (see more) Understanding, Preventing, Detecting and Correcting Moisture in Concrete Floors (read more) Keep in Touch: PHONE: (800) 227-2105             (503) 257-8957 FAX:    […]

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Lignomat in-situ RH Testing Video

Lignomat’s RH BluePeg probes are designed to comply with the latest ASTM F-2170 standard. Some of the unique features that Lignomat’s in-situ RH testing method has are the following: * Better sealing, easier to place sleeves. * Better sealing, flatter caps. * Fast easy connection with a 35 mm plug * Accurate read-out, resolution for […]

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Piece by piece the engineered floor is installed under controlled environmental conditions

Floor Installer Reports

Writing Reports is Important for the Floor Installer Checking out floor problems can be a daunting task. Problems may be very obvious (picture above) but the cause could be hard to determine. The floor may be cupped, may have gaps or other defects, but nobody knows what happened. The floor looked great at the time […]

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