Moisture meters have important limitations.
Concrete moisture meter readings.
Ed wagner answers the questions.
The moisture meter method.
First their measurement depth does not adequately reflect the drying condition of a whole concrete slab.
When you only need a surface level reading of moisture in concrete.
Some moisture meters use a range from 0 100 and some use a range from 0 300 in the reference scale.
Typically this scale ranges in the 5 to 40 range.
The reference scale helps to provide a qualitative estimation of moisture in different types of materials.
While they can be a useful survey tool they typically operate at about depth and can be susceptible to other elements within the slab such as rebar certain types of aggregates and more.
This can tell you if the concrete is likely to damage the materials above it or suffer other problems.
In some cases you may only need a surface level.
Sam pro dual moisture meter 2 0 new flashlight function rapidly readings of moisture and temperature work in over 100 materials best at checking lumber and hardwood for building.
For each test site a packet of very dry calcium hydroxide is poured into a container which is then weighed.
Concrete moisture meters operate by sending an electrical signal into the concrete and measuring its resistance as an indicator of the moisture level in the slab.
Relative humidity meters such as those produced by wagner meters assemble the readings of probes placed at that mid slab depth in numerous test sites throughout the slab.
The thermo hygrometer s reading of the humidity in the concrete slab will tell you how much excess moisture is present deep in the slab that might evaporate up through the surface.
This form of concrete floor moisture test is valuable in assisting contractors in identifying suspect areas that might require further testing deeper in the slab but that testing must be conducted with in situ probes.
Insert probes and take a reading with the rh meter.
The moisture reading scales are designed to determine a specific quantitative amount of moisture content mc in a specific type of material.
The test is conducted in three locations for every 1000 square feet of concrete slab.
When are moisture meters useful for concrete testing.
When testing the moisture content in non wood materials such as concrete a relative scale of 0 to 100 is often used where 0 is bone dry and 100 is saturated.
Unfortunately there is no scientific basis to the test and it has been specifically disallowed for some concrete types.
A concrete moisture meter measures the concentration of moisture at the slab surface.
Moisture meters send an electromagnetic field approximately one inch beneath the concrete surface.
Seeing whether astm f 2170 testing is necessary for established concrete slabs.