Moisture Testing for Wood Flooring and Wood Subfloors

Determining moisture content is an essential part of quality control within the flooring installation process. Flooring Installers must know the moisture content of the wood flooring, as well as the subfloor.

A. The most accurate measurement for moisture content in wood is the oven-bake-out method. However, it is not widely used because the cost and difficulty of performing the test on-site is not practical.

B. Hand-held electrical tools, called moistur e meters, should be part of the toolbox of every flooring contractor for measuring moisture in subfloors and floors. Moisture meters have many purposes. They can be used to determine if floor boards are dry enough for an installation to proceed, they can check subfloors and concrete for high moisture levels, they can determine when a second coat of finish can be applied and they can assess water damage.