It is best to obtain a wood moisture content that will match the environment. A study by Imamura and Kiguchi (1999) showed that wood moisture content in excess of 20% can cause a 5% loss of nail shank diameter in four years and a projected 25% loss in 30 years. While the surface of the floor might feel dry, there could be higher moisture inside. They are returning to remove one plank and take it back to see what they can do to meet my satisfaction. It is impossible for me to tell you what the percentage of furniture should be, but if you know the EMC in the area it will be kept, you can check the MC continuously until you reach its EMC. Electronic moisture meters for damp diagnosis in buildings Also, the glue manufacturer should ideally give you some specifications for max and min moisture content. Moisture content of 11.5% for the oak is a little high for furniture grade hardwoods. Would the screws skew the measurements? Cut out a portion (approx 1/2" I think) from the top of the floor joists. The best way to do this is to use an accurate moisture meter. I am presently drying it to around 8%-10% and then rotary polishing it, but I am facing the issue of burrs on the edges. The excess moisture source should be corrected if found. Including some high-end species like Rosewood, ebony, Mahogany, White Cedar, Bija Sal, Walnut, Gmelina, etc. Drying equipment removed 3 days ago. Building pathology: moisture conditions within traditionally - NBS When it comes to the moisture content of plywood or dimensional lumber, an MC of 17% to 19% reduces the overall strength of plywood, and an MC of 20% or more reduces the strength of dimensional lumber (i.e., lumber cut to certain predefined sizes, such as 2x4s). They need to carry a moisture meter with them under houses and probe the floor joists to measure wood moisture content. I have seen home built in the dead of winter, covered in snow, and still dry out enough for a successful home build. Wood is hygroscopic. If that is the case you need to remove the flooring and examine the subfloor. Thats why I think the wood is either not dried to 14%, or it has picked up too much humidity after drying. This weight difference is then used to calculate the woods original moisture content. In an air conditioned house the wood floor. Here is a link to our new line of meters: https://www.wagnermeters.com/moisture-meters/. 15% is too high, at least for hardwoods. The failure in your case sounds as though the piece was exposed to a rapid loss of already low ambient moisture, causing the cracking in the piece. I cant speak for the home inspector who has raised concerns, or what his experience level is, but I can assure you that the floor joists beneath this home are no different than 90% of the floor joists I have inspected over the past three decades. And would it be normal for the MC to vary from board-to-board and one end of a board to the other? Condensation on the inside of a windowpane. Alternatively, you could set up a crawl space dehumidifier and draw the . Instead of addressing the plumbing and damaged wood, they installed a dehumidifier in 2015. The crawl space must be a minimum of 18" to the bottom of the floor joists, and the soil in the crawl space covered with a heavy duty plastic moisture barrier, and sealed at the seams. i cored out a small section of the bottom beam (3 inches wide) all the way down to the foundation. I will get further testing from those not involved. summary Wood must always be allowed to acclimate or come into balance with the RH of the end-use location. There are two main types of wood moisture meters, pin-type and pinless. One of his own service guys said foundation caps needed to be replaced. Download a free version of NZS 3602:2003. Surface molds may develop. I also applied Boracare (boron) that has stopped minor beetle damage. 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. Moisture content in floor systems - Structural Inspections - InterNACHI Why You Should Test for Moisture Before Installing Flooring Treatment levels for timber and timber-based materials used under tiles in wet areas where the waterproofing membrane cannot easily be inspected or maintained should be: H1.2 for timber floor joists and wall framing around showers; H3 (CCA treated) for plywood. (Itd effectively seal the cavity under the vanity, so once the trim is back on, i dont think itll dry out much more.) Hello Larry I am from Bangladesh. Im hoping this should work. 2nd question, will lacquer on surface of flooring affect the reading. Where are you located? Freshly cut wood has a lot of moisture in it. I-joists are comprised of top and bottom flanges, which resist bending, united with webs, which provide outstanding shear resistance. Different wood? ( 55 days transit by sea) What should be the moisture content while loading in Containers? The optimal humidity in a home is generally 35%-55% and anything under 20% is actually considered unhealthy, as it dries out the skin. I installed a sump pump and 6 mil vapor barrier, but the barrier is not sealed around piers and the ground is moist under the barrier all year. This means the weight of the water exceeds the weight of the wood by itself. My last Wagner was appropriated by the individual who appropriated other tools out of my old sho. I understand that a home inspector expressed concern about fungal growth on the floor framing, so the buyer is concerned that the fungus needs to be removed/cleaned/mitigated from the joists. I strongly recommend using a moisture meter, along with a thermo-hygrometer, or even a smart logger before you start building, to ensure the wood is at an optimal moisture content in an environment that has an acceptable relative humidity and temperature range. 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. Whats an acceptable moisture level for a brick wall in a house? We will be building fir windows. meter readings of up to 2.0% and in-slab relative humidity (RH) below 75%. Please dont pay for a Borate spray unless the buyer wants to pay for it. The floors have started cupping across the entire area with more in some parts. Had fans and dehumidifer running for 17 days starting 2 days after leak. In your blog I read that furniture for outdoor is dried to a MC between 9 and 14%. If the humidity is a constant 76% then the wood will equilibrate between 14 and 15% moisture content. My meter tells me anything above 12% is wet but I cannot find any source of leaking or signs of water. somewhere. Some wood you buy from a lumber store can be higher than 14% but typically range between 12-14%. Am i looking at mold if i dont rip the floor out? Any time water can be absorbed into a material such as wood, drywall etc, its always a good idea to check for excessive moisture, especially if you suspect a leak. So, to sum up, Moisture in crawlspaces is bad. for a mere $4900. wood using pins while the MDF uses pinless? the concrete was completely dry, no standing water. Pinless moisture meters are even easier to use. We will be having a deck built off my woodshop. Yes, our moisture meters read MDF. Oiling the surface does not control the moisture in the wood. What is the acceptable water/moisture content in cassia bark?- in south east asia. Thanks. 7 Common I-Joist Installation Mistakesand How to Avoid Them 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. Here current humidity is 76%. 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Above 90% RH or 20% WMC, mold can grow on the wood. Floor Joist Span TablesCalculator In your area, wood that has been in an environment to a duration of time would be between 6-11%. Though on occasion, they are made of 2x10s and tripled for additional . What You Should Know About Septic Systems, Interior Slab Foundation Settlement: Evaluations and Cost of Repair. Do you think that heated floor actually help to dry or do they make things worse and more humid! Because wood shrinks and warps as it dries, woodworkers want it to be pre-shrunk before they use it. Wagner Meters has a couple of resources to help you determine the moisture content more suited to your outdoor environment. Your ideal MC will also depend on the outdoor humidity levels. Good moisture content for hardwoods is 6% to 9% moisture. Hi, we live in a coastal area, had a recent water leak, and a hard wood floor MC is measuring about 25% the water did not contact this area directly. Whats the Difference Between a Home Inspection and an Engineering Inspection? The National Association of Home Builders Green Home Building Guidelines for solid strip flooring and wide-width flooring are as follows: summary Wood flooring installers typically want the moisture content of their wood to be between 6% to 9%. One sheet of plywood is 25% next to a 2X4 truss reading 17-27%. We have industrial fans going 24/7 to try and dry out the room and also have a dehumidifier running, Ive had the heated floor running in hopes that it could help dry any of the wet wood directly below. How Timber Reacts To Moisture. -ThA?> =v\0r5#v ,J\Byt)%*?I!PT`FdCE N a^1IMm[?x>7RFH +=\ Two weeks is sufficient for softwood. There was a board that cracked along a glue line. Even with lower temperatures, the ideal range for wood keeps relative humidity between 55% and 75%. Great article! I have been testing the bottom stud/sill board of an exterior wall on a slab of an old house that exposed in order to put a floor in. My main concern here is that the flooring didnt have enough time to acclimate to the surrounding conditions. 12.5% is gettin there but not quite to the 6-9% mentioned in the article. Any suggestions to this being possible to correct? Installers should also measure the moisture in wood subfloors and concrete slabs as they can also affect wood flooring. The company they hired measured 47% in the wood and declares that this must be ripped out and replaced. Can I get a away with this? A11 - Substrate Testing - Floor Covering Reference Manual With a concrete subfloor you should use a digital hygrometer, which needs to be left in place for at least 24 hours. I hope that helps. Knowing were all the piers are, I can stand on top and feel a small hump in the floors. Cheers, Howard Pruden in Edmonton, Alberta where its cold and dry. 2. To make sure the wood is properly dried, he always uses a moisture meter before working with it. Working with some slabs of spruce. A moisture meter will help verify. I recommend one of our Orion models: https://www.wagnermeters.com/moisture-meters/. Wall Construction Flat-or no more than 3/8" in 8' (bulge) But none of the contractors abide by the framing codes, nor do the city officials. What can we do to get the row products closer in moisture content, we are currently using fans, We are in northern lower Michigan I am the general contractor for the house, and want to avoid any problems, would love to talk to you on the phone, my number is 9894647248, Mark Skiba, This is a great site about moisture content. As with plywood subfloors, if there is movement or squeaks, refasten the subfloor to the joists and set protruding fasteners into the subfloor. This can lead to rising damp, dry rot, timber decay, fungal growth and borer. If you want, just give me a call at 800-634-9961, ext 225. There is no balancing layer on the reverse of the panels which might obstrust breathing of the panel. Lacquer will not make a reading difference as long as there are no metallic components in the lacquer itself. Engineering & Inspection Services, Licensed PE - Alabama & Tennessee, JADE Engineering & Inspection | 5405 Whitesburg Dr. Subsequently the woodgrain has reflected in the previously mirror-finish, only on the new panels and we suspect moisture content issues in the wood before it was varnished. . Utilize the chart on following page to record the environmental readings at the time of installation. Sorry that this is so long-winded and I thank you in advance if you are willing to address this question for me. In fact, according to M. Steven Doggett, Ph.D. LEED AP, the founder of Built Environments, Inc., wood moisture content as high as 15% can cause corrosion of metal fasteners and at 16% may lead to fungal growth. Either one should be acceptable for finishes. 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. The new wood was brought in in bundles ~2 x 2 x 6 and left that way to acclimate for ~2 weeks. We dont know if we still should be having a commercial drying process? If the moisture is less than 20% and the floor joists are structurally sound, like the joists at this home, there is no need to worry about any fungal staining that might exist. Ideally Ill wait until reaching final drying but sometimes I need to use wood before that point. board will move 3 times the amount as a 4-in. Yes, it is possible to have a moisture content reading of 99.9%. The wood has been kiln dried and packed in corrugate. A dry reading will be 16% MC (Moisture Content) or below. The floor installer put the floors down without allowing the boards to acclimate. These are slabs roughly 2 thick. Be on the lookout for flooring failures such as swelling, buckling, cupping, etc. We have had very bad cracking in sheetrock and floors. This is the standard in the construction industry. Its always a good idea to check with the manufacturer of the finish also. Hello and thanks for writing in. Learn how your comment data is processed. Wood is used to clean model railroad tracks. You should be ok as long as the moisture content does not get worse (higher). What should be the approximate Highest MC to prevent wood problems to include finishes? Since wood is hygroscopic, it loses or gains moisture depending on the relative humidity of the surrounding air. Box 1088, Roseburg, OR 97470 Tel. This would depend on the expectations of the person receiving the product in India, how large of diameter the logs are, and some average estimate of what the conditions would be inside the container during the 55 days. Be sure to acclimate the wood to desired EMC of the interior environment before you use it. Headers, columns, and joists are rotting. Damn those shop classes I didnt take. Lets go over the basics of each, Oven dry testing is the oldest method for measuring the moisture content of wood. So chart would indicate around 9%. Furniture maker Lonnie Bird weighs in, I dont want the wood to shrink after I use it because the wood will warp or split.. The NWFA recommends testing wood subfloor moisture in at least 20 locations per 1,000 sq. However, this range will vary slightly according to the geographic region because of varying RH levels. Houses with timber-framed floors can be at risk of having poor underfloor ventilation. in other hardwood areas that wasnt close to the water, was measuring about 16-19%. The containers that we have received so far have arrived wet and mouldy. They are currently nearing equilibrium (around 12 MC) and are stored within the house. Wood Moisture Content is the weight of water in a piece of wood expressed as a percentage of oven dry weight of wood. Divide that difference by the sum of the on-center spacing of the floor joists: 118.5" / 16" = 7.40625. How to Level a Floor - Lowes Other than causing structural damage, too much water can result in mold growth. I live in michigan (humid summer, long cold winter). A wood moisture content of 47% is too high. Concrete floors. I would also consider the environment where the table will live. Im still not sure that whatever they do will produce a good, long-term result, but I need to know what they should be doing to the wood. This can be a problem once installed in furniture or a floor. Thanks for the email. The cause that may produce this will be discussed in the section "Biodeteration of flood". Water was coming out of this outlet and onto the floor? During the summer months in the northeast region, wood subfloors and floor joists often measure 19. 2. Pros and cons of wet area floor finishes - Level Mold starts to grow in the mid to high 20 percent moisture contents. We found out that RH at the final location was under 20%. Treated wood is typically still wet when its delivered to the job site. Softwoods typically have higher moisture content than hardwoods. In the Midwest, the EMC of wood or lumber in Des Moines, Iowa, ranges from 12.4% to 14.9%. Pinless meters also dont leave damaging pinholes on the woods surface. If a wooden sample has moisture content range of 2-6% only and if it has moisture content of 9 or 10% then what does this mean?? What would one expect to read in plywood subfloor and old growth pine floor joist? Both times, the tables were flawless, but after 2-3 weeks in their new home both table tops had major crack issues. 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. 28% and above Readings in this range are often accompanied by decay damage. Every home's foundation repair needs are different based on soil type, type of foundation problem, and climate. The excess moisture source must be immediately corrected, and the situation carefully monitored until the WMC returns to the 12-16 range. Please help with T%, I have seen where 30% moisture loss by weight is a good rule of thumb to shoot for. During the summer, moisture content readings above . If the conditions are too wet, dehumidify, and if they are too dry, humidify. As with the hardwood flooring, it is essential to check the OSB's moisture content using a moisture meter. I gladly obliged. What is a Normal Reading on a Moisture Meter? All Materials Covered So please help us to know what should be required moisture level in Acacia board in final product if we need to restrict wood movement at Colorado . If possible, keep indoor humidity below 60 percent (ideally between 30 and 50 percent) relative humidity. Im down to ~13-19% MC near floor level, based on a cheapo moisture meters readings. Great info! We found the problem and the leak was resolve quickly! My builder and flooring contractor asked for me to give the hardwoods a season to acclimate and they would surely move back together in june/july time frame. Wood is a hygroscopic material, meaning it picks up or loses moisture based on the ambient conditions. I believe you are asking for the percent moisture content (humidity) of South African woods. The substructure may show decayed areas, ranging from small to very large, of rotten floor joist, sills, and . 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. However, the ideal humidity range in some climates may be higher or lower. You can check for moisture by using a moisture meter. The supplier says they dry the wood to an MC of 14%, which is according to them the standard for outdoor furniture. Have I been wrong? Too dry and you get chipping out of the wood. For more information, see our article comparing Pinless Moisture Meters vs. Pin Meters. The plywood setting is .57. Thanks for the reply. Such readings should alert the homeowner to look for a source of excess moisture. Now the fungus goes dormant. I have a question, I have moisture in the crawl space, we insulated the crawl with closed cell, cannot get the osb subfloor below. look forward to your comments. Down pour of rain onto underlayment of attached garage. Am I possibly getting false positives? The acceptable moisture content in wood depends on two factors: These two factors make it difficult to say anything specific about acceptable wood moisture content. That is way beyond fibre-saturation. -XF% Kiln-dried timber should be kept dry. It was such a good read. I have seen that 13.5% is high for furniture and you should aim below 12%. Thank you. Rotten Floor Joists - Repairing & Replacing Rotting Joists This is for furniture-grade hardwoods. I have a couple questions. 10 14% moisture content is too high. In their warehouse, and perhaps partly also in the container. Hug the ones you love when you see them! We had boards that were also cracking/splitting and other places where small pinholes were showing up. Any advice would be appreciated. Any input would be most appreciated. You mentioned the humidity outside is 55%. The next question is almost the same as before, if we have various kinds of wood, such as March wood, mango wood, pine. Call JADE today for a crawlspace inspection and we can give you definitive answers to your crawl space problems! You will want closer to 6% in the drier climates and 9% MC for the more humid climates. to keep the moisture content below 20 percent. My question is regarding finishing. Did the Contractor mention anything about the structural strength of the joists?
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