The door is NE facing and protected from direct Sun light and rain by a porch roof. Im planning on using some of it to build a new front door for the house and was wondering what MC I should be shooting for. The acceptable moisture levels in a crawl space are between 30% and 50%, with under 55% being the ideal. Damn those shop classes I didnt take. So if I understood the article right and not sure that I did. Houses with timber-framed floors can be at risk of having poor underfloor ventilation. Perhaps try to seal the vapor barrier better around the piers. Moisture contents of 12 to 17% is ok. You dont want to see any subfloor reach about 25% which is where mold will start to grow. Since wood is hygroscopic, it loses or gains moisture depending on the relative humidity of the surrounding air. And would it be normal for the MC to vary from board-to-board and one end of a board to the other? 78 0 obj <>stream The amount of swelling or shrinkage depends on how much the . if not, can you tell me why? Water Level Survey: Are You Smarter Than an Egyptian? Using South Carolina Residential Construction Standards to Solve Problems, Website by Integritive Web Design :: Asheville, NC. 1= z@ One of his own service guys said foundation caps needed to be replaced. For boundary materials, the values vary depending on the physical properties of what you are . He asked if I could double-check the findings of another home inspection company that requested expert advice on some mold/fungus they found in the crawl space of the home. Cracks in Concrete Slabs: Should I Be Concerned? Hello, Paul here. Please commenr? Thank you so much for your time and expertise. Pinless meters are non-penetrating and read the moisture content via a non-damaging electromagnetic sensor that scans the wood. You may be picking up something behind the sheetrock. I found your website at just the right time. Timber logs & Lumber into India company remained actively involved in harvesting and sale of Hardwood logs of Indian origin. Kiln-dried wood usually shows a moisture reading of 10% on the outside and then 25% on the inside. We have started to import teak outdoor furniture from Indonesia into Europe. Engineering & Inspection Services, Licensed PE - Alabama & Tennessee, JADE Engineering & Inspection | 5405 Whitesburg Dr. Whats the Difference Between a Home Inspection and an Engineering Inspection? Wood in buildings usually has a wood moisture content of 5% to 15%. Thanks for the reply. We dont know if we still have leaks? According to Dr. Eugene Wengert, professor and specialist in wood processing at the University of Wisconsin-Madisons Department of Forestry, wood should be dried to a water MC thats within two percentage points of the EMC where the wood is going to be used. I have some black walnut and cherry that Ive milled and want to make some charcuterie, cheese, bread boardsetc with, would the 6 8% dryness apply to this or what would you recommend? -XF% The floor installer put the floors down without allowing the boards to acclimate. I manufacture ice cream sticks and disposable wooden cutlery from European Baltic birch wood in India. As lumber dries, it may split, cup and warp. Limit the length of notches to 1/3 of the joist's depth. I hope this helps. Standard construction studs such as 24 and 26s are typically dried to 19% moisture content before they are installed. So we are seeking redress, but there are jacks present underneath the home which the home inspector didnt report either and didnt know if this was extra support for the water heater or what. Hi Larry, We are a joinery company and we have a project here in UAE which is located in another part of the emirates and the humidity in that area is very high especially during summer because it is near the coastal area. The difference is the moisture meters measurement error. Please provide us with regular updates. Im trying to find specs on treated lumber for NC. A moisture content of less than 20% indicates that your joists and beams do not have the necessary moisture content for mold or fungus to survive. What do you recommend? I would like to load eucalyptus and pine wood logs to India . Since the cold weather has come on, the organic growth has gone dormant, but a contractor noticed joists with distinctive moisture content where there are definitive separations between dry and wet looking wood. Is this accurate? The same study showed a 40% loss in joint strength and concluded that a 20% MC may significantly compromise shear resistance of exterior walls. This level of moisture is unlikely in a joist which is independent of a wall or under a water leak. What is the optimal MC of the fir stock for construction of the windows? Effects of Moisture on I-Joists and LVL April 2007 P.O. Leicester, NC 28748 This week, I notice the next pier on the same beam is starting to push up, warping the floor. Thank you for the helpful article. Knowing were all the piers are, I can stand on top and feel a small hump in the floors. Please help with T%, I have seen where 30% moisture loss by weight is a good rule of thumb to shoot for. Based on common guidelines or recommendations, the acceptable moisture levels for wood are as follows: Keep in mind that a woods acceptable moisture level will depend primarily on how it will be finally used and the average RH where it will be finally used. For a wooden subfloor you will need to use a 2-pronged moisture meter. Hello Folks, I am new to wood turning and do not have a ready supply of dry/seasoned (my wood is green) wood. Thanks Phil. They are in an unheated and currently very cold barn The moisture ranges from 11% -16% according to my meter. Please dont pay for a Borate spray unless the buyer wants to pay for it. I have an unusual question, if I was to sandwich recycled paper (similar to hardwood floor paper only heavier) between 2 layers of wood as a draft stop what should the moisture content be to avoid the paper absorbing any water and ending up with a mold issue thanks in advance for any info you can provide. After all, the wall is in contact with damp soil. You should be able to specify a lower moisture content. Position plywood panels at a 2-inch offset from the structural subfloor seams. Im on a grade-level concrete slab, and the water made its way over (under the tiles) to my sink vanity. The floors have started cupping across the entire area with more in some parts. Thanks for the question. . Chris. My meter tells me anything above 12% is wet but I cannot find any source of leaking or signs of water. If a board reads 100% (Difficult to measure accurately) then the weight of the water equals the weight of that wood. SE, Huntsville, AL 35802. Floors should be: level within a 3mm deviation per 1m for floors up to 6m across (measured at the furthest points across the full width of the floor) a maximum of 20mm out of level for floors over 6m across flat within a 5mm deviation, measured using a 2m straight edge with equal offsets. We appreciate you writing in, best of luck! Once the summer cooling season ends, and the A/C is shut off, and the outside air cools, and the humidity drops significantly, the cool dry air now flowing beneath the home dries out the floor joists. When exposed to a constant RH, the moisture content of wood or lumber will come to equilibrium with its environment, resulting in an EMC for that species of a wood-based composite. 10 14% moisture content is too high. I had several of the varnished decorative hardwood laminated ply panels replaced in the lounge on an air conditioned luxury yacht. Please give us a call at (800) 634-9961 or email info@wagnermeters.com, if youd prefer. Thanks for the the information, very detailed and useful. Installers should also measure the moisture in wood subfloors and concrete slabs as they can also affect wood flooring. Post and beam constructions don't have to be kiln-dried but should be air-dried. As the humidity increases, the MC increases, causing the wood to expand. I suspect the moisture was the culprit? I live in michigan (humid summer, long cold winter). The average RH of the environment where the wood will be used. Phil, what are you making with the cedar, and in what type of environment will it be? What You Should Know About Septic Systems, Interior Slab Foundation Settlement: Evaluations and Cost of Repair. That doesnt make much sense to me. If you know such International or Amercan or any other standard please let me know. There are water stains on the particle board floor, but the flooring felt completely dry a few minutes after the reading was taken (I didnt see the reading being taken), the floor looks dry in the plumbers photo, the particle board flooring is not noticeably swollen, and it certainly has no flaking or other signs of disintegration or lessening to its structural integrity. Floor joists are generally 6, 8, 10, or 12 inches in width, with 8 or 10 inches as the most common sizes. Although, in this example, the moisture content of the timber rarely goes above 17%, it is not uncommon for winter moisture contents, in pitched roofs, to peak above 25%. Do you have any recommendations on how to prevent mold from getting on the wood? Floors-1/2" in 12' or 3/16" in 4'. This is the standard in the construction industry. 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. The three main sources of moisture: Condensation, Foundation wall transfer, and leaks. Too wet and you get fuzzing. The electrical current will then move from pin to pin and measure the resistance encountered. Three years ago, the floor sank in a heavy traffic area and an engineer told me Masonite was used to shim and had compressed. Be sure to acclimate the wood to desired EMC of the interior environment before you use it. A termite repair company (also licensed contractors) told me that I needed to replace the planks on my second story deck. Thank you. Do NOT install the flooring planks until these moisture content levels are achieved. meter readings of up to 2.0% and in-slab relative humidity (RH) below 75%. We dont know if we still should be having a commercial drying process? moisture meter testing a floor joist In this image we measure a reading of 37% in this floor joist. In March of this year I had new white oak 2 flooring installed. Be on the lookout for flooring failures such as swelling, buckling, cupping, etc. Thanks for the question. When you do this, you not only ensure that the entire batch is okay on average, but youre also far likelier to catch boards that are statistical outliers and could cause problems. I purchased my newly built home that has to meet all the new energy efficient standards and will be 2 years old this coming month. Would the screws skew the measurements? I have a question, I have moisture in the crawl space, we insulated the crawl with closed cell, cannot get the osb subfloor below. You must be careful with a thick slab once you cut it. Brilliant article. As stated, fungal spores are beneath the home because they are in the air we breathe-the same air that gets circulated beneath the home. Summers are hot and dry while winters can be cool. Bird, who runs the School of Fine Woodworking outside Knoxville, Tennessee, says he knows wood shrinks seasonally but wants to minimize the shrinkage and expansion by drying the wood to a moisture content of about 8%. If the wood is covered by a material like MDF or other, do we take 2x the measurements? 1. Use a level to determine if the floor is level within 3/16-inch change per 10 feet. Wood used indoors will eventually stabilize at 8-14% moisture content; outdoors at 12-18%. These home inspectors are insecure and inexperienced. To avoid this problem, wood flooring should never be stored where environmental conditions are uncontrolled, such as garages and exterior patios. Am I possibly getting false positives? %PDF-1.2 % Sorry, that time of year. Thank you. Logs, siding, shiplap, and T&G must be kiln-dried to stop the wood from shrinking or pulling apart. Simple and regular maintenance can prevent serious problems developing. The wood scale provides accurate, quantitative readings of moisture over the range of 5% to 30% MC in wood. Looking back at pictures of the build process, they brought the hardwood bundles into my home in late October of 2017 and installed them 3 days later. Next, check the moisture of new floorboards. Currently the RH is 76%, the residence RH will be set at around 35%. In this case, what Built in # that I can use to measure flooring. One note is that we did have some fungus growth in our crawlspace during the construction phase prior to the crawlspace being sealed and had the contractor come and spray and clean the floor joists and subflooring where applicable. Kiln-dried timber should be kept dry. What is an FHA Permanent Foundation for Manufactured Homes? z .XWb*QGF^v4MQ`_dRw{\;\'03Uhx-SeJlc!m\8X^,Z/hU5Ewdzz:`nZ!(7reWD4X. As a result, the normal moisture meter reading for these materials in between 0.5% and 1%. Thanks for any help you can provide! Although some movement can be expected between 6% and 9%, wood flooring can shrink or swell more dramatically outside this range. During the summer, moisture content readings above . Do you agree with this? The EMC of wood or lumber exposed to an outdoor atmosphere varies across the U.S. For instance, in the coastal city of Seattle, the EMC of wood or lumber is higher than the EMC of cities inland or in the Southwest. Wood exposed to air with a RH of about 90% will reach a Wood Moisture Content of about 20%. As this moisture condenses on the floor system, it wets the wood. We are checking moisture levels in several areas each day. This author has found decay fungi in floor joists at moisture levels of 20% to 25%. Good moisture content for softwoods is 10% to 14% moisture. I-joists are comprised of top and bottom flanges, which resist bending, united with webs, which provide outstanding shear resistance. 25-30 - Actual, and often extensive, damage is evident when readings reach this level. Structural flooring for laying direct to joists or battens is a minimum of 19mm thick. Condensation on the inside of a windowpane. (He didnt cite a figure.) New roof first week of November. Does coating wood with oil stabilize the moisture content in wood? They many times cite the need for further evaluations by what they call other so called experts. They many times cite the need for further evaluations by what they call other so called experts. Required fields are marked *. Should it be less? Yes, our moisture meters read MDF. Accuaracy is of course more important.. Thanks!!! Thank you. This summer I milled several 1.25 boards from a fir log that had been cut around 10 years ago.