Plywood is usually at 12 when purchased from a warehouse that protects its inventory from the elements always check that the plywood you are buying is dry.
What is normal moisture content for hardwood.
Hardwood flooring should be delivered to site kiln dried at between 6 and 8 moisture content.
A 10 moisture content reading means that 10 of a wood sample s weight is due to water in the wood.
Of water was lost in the drying process.
The fastest way to measure moisture in floors is to use a moisture meter for wood.
Here using a thermo hygrometer to check temperature and humidity can be invaluable.
In its initial green state and ended up weighing only 20 lbs.
See the moisture content of wood chart on page 66 which lists acceptable moisture contents for wood at certain temperatures and relative humidities.
Moisture content weight of water ovendry weight of wood x 100 for instance suppose that a freshly sawn piece of eastern cottonwood populus deltoides weighed 50 lbs.
Percent moisture content in wood is the ratio of the weight of water compared to the overall weight of a piece of wood.
These devices can be used to test the moisture content mc of wood flooring in mere seconds.
Measuring moisture in wood flooring.
The moisture content of properly seasoned firewood should be under 20 as firewood burns its most efficiently between moisture content levels of 15 and 20.
In fact there are many wood moisture meter products available that can measure the mc of the majority of wood flooring species on the market today.
Step 2 is documenting your readings.
Ensuring wood flooring is at its ideal moisture content.
There are three standard methods for measuring concrete moisture.
We talked about taking moisture readings.
For instance you take your readings prior to installing a hardwood floor and the subfloor moisture content is 10 and the strip hardwood was at 7.
Wood moisture meters for flooring applications come in two varieties.
Therefore it s advisable to have a floor tested for moisture content prior to installing flooring or moisture barriers.
Often more than one method is used to get an accurate reading of actual moisture content.
For example the meter may read 12 percent moisture content which is within the normal range for some regions but which is too high in drier lower humidity areas.
Your subfloor should be within 4 moisture content of the hardwood flooring.
When fully dried in an oven this means that a total of 30 lbs.
By measuring and assessing concrete and wood moisture levels separately builders and homeowners lower the potential risk of future moisture related problems when combining the two materials together.
By documenting your moisture readings you now have a reference point to go back to should a problem happen.
