My question is regarding finishing. Hello, I am renovating my kitchen and installing hardwood floors. Download a free version of NZS 3602:2003. Wood freshly cut or kiln-dried is always interacting with environmental moisture. Although some movement can be expected between 6% and 9%, wood flooring can shrink or swell more dramatically outside this range. Because ventilated crawl spaces throughout the Southeast United States allow high humidity and fungus spores to enter the enclosed space beneath the home. primer, the moisture vapor transmissions rate (MVtr) from the substrate should not be in excess of 5 lbs. 18 years ago the moist content (MC) of the beams and joist was 24% in an area of the crawl space that floods in spring. I live in Charlotte, NC. The cause that may produce this will be discussed in the section "Biodeteration of flood". Once the wood samples weight stops changing, its weight is compared to what it was before the drying process began. Unless something is so out of whack shimming in back of the sheetrock won't suffice it's OK here. Divide that difference by the sum of the on-center spacing of the floor joists: 118.5" / 16" = 7.40625. That is still quite a wide range. The excess moisture source must be immediately corrected, and the situation carefully monitored until the WMC returns to the 12-16 range. There was a board that cracked along a glue line. . If the moisture content of the product is well outside the range of optimal MC, the wood flooring should not be accepted because it will lead to shrinkage, bowing, cupping, and other physical problems. The rim joist and floor joist sit right on the block. My thought is maybe to get one of your meter for greater accuracy? Pinless meters are non-penetrating and read the moisture content via a non-damaging electromagnetic sensor that scans the wood. So, when looking at the relative humidity of the space, spaces left above 70% RH for extended periods will also promote mold growth. within two percentage points of the EMC where the wood is going to be used. The ideal moisture content will depend on the humidity indoors. Thanks for the email. I get some water seepage through an exterior wall at basement floor level as a result of heavy rain. This method uses the oven-dry method and then compares the results to those obtained using a moisture meter. It depends on the size of the project, but anytime you put a waterborne urethane on the wood you are adding moisture to your project. Call 256-318-0982 or, Engineering Inspection Mortgage Companies, Unnecessary Panic! Any suggestions to this being possible to correct? Does that seem normal. Typical moisture content for furniture in a home is 6-9%. The optimal humidity in a home is generally 35%-55% and anything under 20% is actually considered unhealthy, as it dries out the skin. The shipping time is approximately 45 day in a 40 container to the west coast . The best way to do this is to use an accurate moisture meter. the concrete was completely dry, no standing water. When it hits the cooler air of the crawl space, it increases the relative humidity by about 2% per degree! Freshly cut wood has a lot of moisture in it. info@rlcengineering.com I have come across this and havent made the purchase from my friend because I am not sure about the warp or breaking it will come. Your email address will not be published. Again, the correct moisture content will depend on the surrounding conditions. If this is confusing, dont worry. During the summer months, when outdoor humidity is high, the hot/humid air enters the crawl space through the foundation vents and condenses on cool objects. moisture meter testing a floor joist In this image we measure a reading of 37% in this floor joist. . ft., and averaging the results. My last Wagner was appropriated by the individual who appropriated other tools out of my old sho. They many times cite the need for further evaluations by what they call other so called experts. 2. I live on the fl coast so what should the moisture level be? The average annual relative humidity will play the biggest role in determining what the optimal MC should be. Step 1: Check the Floor. 0 WM=8DBaHh10tIKR/OH}X5Kpt'_]4Mfg9@w8~ n$R I had a water leak under my crawl space which has 3 inches of foam insulation applied to the underside of the sub floor. Most interior wood is in this range. The moisture content overall is almost always below 20%. Mold and fungus in the crawl space can definitely become a problem, but dont be fooled into thinking that a Borate spray HAS to be applied in EVERY situation. What are acceptable ranges of moisture for composite materials like MDF and Plywood, for indoor furniture use? Fresh cut trees can have a wood moisture content over 200%, while completely dried wood will have a wood moisture content of 0%. After reading your article and following comments, my question is : How much does the finish of a wood project for indoor use affect the moisture content? The moisture content of wooden substructure members is routinely being disclosed in the closing process of real estate transactions. This is a perfectly normal moisture content and one that will not support fungal growth. During the summer, moisture content readings above . I dont know what to believe except the company who installed the vapor and dehumidifier said the vapor barrier needs to be changed out because of all the sewage and drainage stains after the plumbing is fixed. This author has found decay fungi in floor joists at moisture levels of 20% to 25%. The three main sources of moisture: Condensation, Foundation wall transfer, and leaks. The interior home conditions are, AC running at 68-70*F. Exterior wall condition 104*F as checked with an IR thermometer of East wall not in the sun. The normal outside equilibration moisture content (EMC) for Indiana is anywhere from 13% to 16%. If after the inspection we find that your sagging floor joists need support or your home's foundation needs repair we may recommend using IntelliJack, JES Helical Piers, or JES Push Piers. In other words, the water weighs more than the wood fibers. The flooring pieces should be removed from the packaging to allow the ambient conditions to equalize the wood. This means that wood intended for interior use in this location should not only be dried to around 6% but should be kept at this moisture content both before and during the manufacturing process. A mold or mildew odor or appearance on surfaces. I am based in The Netherlands. I have a black walnut slabbed up that has been air drying outside for 2 yrs. Typical humidity levels inside a home is between 40 to 50%. Meanwhile, the reference scale can be used to provide qualitative moisture assessments in other building materials. This is for furniture-grade hardwoods. During the increased average temperatures of spring and summer, timber moisture content reduces to more acceptable levels. 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. If possible, keep indoor humidity below 60 percent (ideally between 30 and 50 percent) relative humidity. Wall Corners-Perpendicular within 1/4" in 10'. Hello Larry I am from Bangladesh. Take the readings in at least 20 spots per 1,000 square feet of flooring and average the results. Two questions I need a reliable, easy to use meter that can cover all species as I now have a portable mill and that can be used for treated. Do you have a suggestion? Mold starts growing if the moisture contents reaches about 25% moisture content. provide a good substrate for a wide range of wet area finishes. The next question is almost the same as before, if we have various kinds of wood, such as March wood, mango wood, pine. Am i looking at mold if i dont rip the floor out? Were so sorry for the inconvenience. Any suggestions .thanks. As a general rule, with geographic exceptions, wood flooring performs best when the interior environment is controlled to stay within an RH range of 30% to 50% and a temperature range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. You wrote that 15% humidity may induce mold? I just bought a live edge slab of Cherry from a local sawmill that was kiln dried. In general, all wood products will swell with an increase in moisture content and shrink with a decrease in moisture content. 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. WMC of framing members in a crawl space will usually be lowest in late winter and highest in late summer. Im hoping this should work. Writing all the way from Australia, Steven. The table had a 1 3/4 X 3 1/2 thick boarder with mitred corners and biscuited. I have used spar urethane as a finish on a few other 12 to 18 MC (semi-wet) log projects that turned out wonderfully. to keep the moisture content below 20 percent. Currently the RH is 76%, the residence RH will be set at around 35%. You will however, need to become familiar with reading your local floor joist span tables for floor beams, floor joists, window and door lintels, ceiling joists, roof joists, roof rafters, and roof ridge beams, as well as the sizing and spacing of wood studs tables. 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?? With a Wagner L606, I am getting MC readings 12%->15.5% . The chart below will clear things up. Three years ago, the floor sank in a heavy traffic area and an engineer told me Masonite was used to shim and had compressed. Headers, columns, and joists are rotting. Make sure theyre aligned with the grain and not across it. I have about 3,000 sqft on my first floor and this was relatively consistent throughout. 1. A moisture content reading of 25% is borderline to support mold. 15% is too high, at least for hardwoods. We have had very bad cracking in sheetrock and floors. We are manufacturer of eng wood flooring. They are putting desiccants in the container to absorb the moisture but we feel its going to be a long time enclosed in the container without any air circulation. Your cost could be more or less, depending on the size of the floor area. Im not sure I can really answer this question. "R. Im on a grade-level concrete slab, and the water made its way over (under the tiles) to my sink vanity. Eventually, this internal moisture will evaporate by itself. Because wood shrinks and warps as it dries, woodworkers want it to be pre-shrunk before they use it. In all cases, determining the acceptable moisture level of wood requires the use of an extremely accurate moisture meter. The company they hired measured 47% in the wood and declares that this must be ripped out and replaced. A company sealed off the foundation vents and removed all the insulation from the crawlspace with the humidifier mitigating the moisture from the leaks. Its hard to gauge anything off of a cheapo meter, but if and I mean if, we were to assume it was reading effectively, the numbers are too high. We are checking moisture levels in several areas each day. If he is using a high-quality product from companies such as Delmhorst, they provide a slide hammer pin attachment, and they need to use insulated-shaft pins. It will continue to absorb and release moisture until it comes into balance with the surrounding air. You can Google moisture content of wood necessary to support fungal growth and see for yourself. Call 256-318-0982 or contact us today. 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. 12% is good for softwoods, but again, it depends on the relative humidity and temperature where the finished product will be kept. Lets go over the basics of each, Oven dry testing is the oldest method for measuring the moisture content of wood. Brick Veneer Homes: Are They Really Worth the Headache? Hi Davetta, Youll need to contact a local mold inspection company that is certified. As with any wood product, the environment where the finished product will Live will determine the correct moisture content. Should it be less? Using South Carolina Residential Construction Standards to Solve Problems, Website by Integritive Web Design :: Asheville, NC. The same study showed a 40% loss in joint strength and concluded that a 20% MC may significantly compromise shear resistance of exterior walls. These varying humidity levels of the surrounding air cause wood to not only gain or lose water moisture but to expand or shrink as well. You can use our free APP called WoodH2O to help you decide on the best moisture content. One of the beauties of spar is that it allows the wood to move quite a bit, while still retaining good adhesion. They are returning to remove one plank and take it back to see what they can do to meet my satisfaction. Houses with timber-framed floors can be at risk of having poor underfloor ventilation. Wood in buildings usually has a wood moisture content of 5% to 15%. When wood is subjected to an environment that is higher in humidity, it will swell or expand. Reaching these moisture content levels does not mean mold growth or corrosion . We just had a hydrometer installed in the crawlspace and it is reading 38% as of today. Should I wait? endstream endobj 80 0 obj <>stream Next, check the moisture of new floorboards. Do you have any recommendations on how to prevent mold from getting on the wood? I found your moisture levels column through a search for good wood for low humidity. Should I wait for the slabs to be within that 6-9% to cut and glue? A dry reading will be 16% MC (Moisture Content) or below. Would you be able to say anything about the optimal MC range for this specific situation? We have had an abnormally wet spring and part of summer. We really cant overstress the importance of taking plenty of moisture readings. He added that plastic sheet ground covering that his company laid over my crawl space had been moved in spots and that I no longer had full coverage. To achieve this, Acceptable Solution E2/AS1 says that, on near-level sites, the floor level must be no less than 150 mm above the crown of the road or the lowest point of the boundary. Thanks for the question. 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. (864) 506-4701, South Carolina Residential Construction Standards, http://www.rlcengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/RLC-Engineering-1.png. In your blog I read that furniture for outdoor is dried to a MC between 9 and 14%. My first question is how to determine the MC of eng wood flooring which composite of different species layer, face and different species to form plywood core. Can carpet be reinstalled? I am having a section of our 3.25 Maple hardwood floor replaced. I not sure if this is normal, related to the re-shim or need to install a crawl space dehumidifier to slow the progression? Hello! This is more likely to occur to occur in lower-grade boards, where knots and uneven grains are already present. Readings can be elevated if there is a stud directly behind the sheetrock. 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. 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. What would be the recommended MC for doors of my new building(under construction)? Your help for resolving this issue would be highly appreciated . A Brick Veneer Crack Tragedy: A True Story, Spraying for Mold on Floor Joists: Pest Control. I would think it would vary depending on the contents. Failure to do this will result in warping, cracking, and other problems after the construction of the wood product. To do so: Make two vertical cuts through the joist a safe distance away from each end of the rotten section. 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. A consistent humidity level of 40 percent will require wood to be about 8 percent moisture content. It is best to allow the wood to equilibrate to the room environment. Wood is a hygroscopic material, meaning it picks up or loses moisture based on the ambient conditions. 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. This level of moisture is unlikely in a joist which is independent of a wall or under a water leak. As with plywood subfloors, if there is movement or squeaks, refasten the subfloor to the joists and set protruding fasteners into the subfloor. One sheet of plywood is 25% next to a 2X4 truss reading 17-27%. Hi Larry, just finished a black Walnut dining room table back in November. I recommend one of our Orion models: https://www.wagnermeters.com/moisture-meters/. These mold spores land on the wet wood and take root. Wood Moisture Content is the weight of water in a piece of wood expressed as a percentage of oven dry weight of wood. 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. Cheers, Howard Pruden in Edmonton, Alberta where its cold and dry. Any input would be most appreciated. : Mold & Fungus In the Crawlspace. Im not sure which part of Europe you are from, but typically the Indonesian climate is very humid compared to other parts of the world. Do you see any dangers of using poly with a MC of around 12, or am I risking adhesion failure especially if the wood does end up shrinking dimensionally? Here is a link to a calculator and table: http://www.csgnetwork.com/emctablecalc.html. (He didnt cite a figure.) So what do you think is the ideal moisture% I should dry them to before rotary polishing them? At this home, cool objects include the air conditioning ductwork, the ground and the overlying wood floor system, which is exposed to very cool temperatures due to air conditioning duct leakage. The other thing to consider is examining how water is entering your crawl space. 800-347-7260 Fax. The solution seems to be drying the wood longer & bettter, to a lower measured MC. If humidity levels in the crawlspace with all these measures taken place is above 60% the joist and the subfloor will have a high MC reading. or finally the product will be placed where. I will get further testing from those not involved. You will also see that the healthy wood moisture levels of 10% - 16% occur when the relative humidity is between 55% and 80% at 70 degrees. Call JADE today for a crawlspace inspection and we can give you definitive answers to your crawl space problems! I took readings of the moisture of the sub floor at the edges of the wall and it ranged from 5 to 16, problem is i cant take it in the middle of the floor unless i rip the floor out. The manufacturer of the oil-based poly should have a specification on the maximum allowable moisture content of the wood. The floor installer put the floors down without allowing the boards to acclimate. Thank you for the well described article. If youre wondering how wood can have a 200% moisture content, heres how that works. i did not waterproof the outside of the curb (kerdi), so the wood got wet. Lacquer will not make a reading difference as long as there are no metallic components in the lacquer itself. Softwoods typically have higher moisture content than hardwoods. There are two main ways of measuring wood moisture content: oven-dry testing and moisture meter testing. This will drastically speed up the drying process. I never obtained a moisture reading above 16%. Box 1437 It gains or loses water moisture as the relative humidity (RH) of the surrounding air changes. Many of our customers are successfully using our hand held moisture meters on engineered flooring. There is over three foot of block above grade around the entire house. 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. with the spring thaw, i was one of the lucky ones that got water in my basement. We have started to import teak outdoor furniture from Indonesia into Europe. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Where floor s have been covered by previous floor coverings acceptable values are up to 3.5% and 80% in-slab RH. Squeaks from subfloors The floor installer is often the 'first cab off the rank' when there is a squeaking floor and the problem may I-joists are strong, lightweight, "I" shaped engineered wood structural members that meet demanding performance standards.
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