Thread 2950977

Mom wants me to go under the house and check the moisture content of the beams and joists and such. Legit concern given it's a crawl space closed in by a brick foundation (with vents, but still). She bought a meter, but it's garbage (plus or minus 4% error range when the difference between "dry" and "wet" is only 5%; also "contactless" with 9 different settings for wood depending on the density with no setting for southern yellow pine and a method for determining which setting to use depending on the moisture content of the wood and it's weight vs volume, which if I knew those things I wouldn't need the meter in the first place).
House is a bit over 100 years old. Beams and joists are almost certainly southern yellow pine. I just want a meter I can poke into the wood and it will give me % reading that's reliable and not "range of error might mean an okay reading is actually not good". I want to take multiple readings over multiple days to be sure of influences like weather and ground moisture (structure is close to the ground, it's a bit more of a belly crawl space than a crawl space). Does anyone have recommendations/experience with meters?
Please and thank you.

When I worked for a water damage restoration company, we would stab a known "dry" piece of the same wood in the same area to find out how wet the wood was "supposed" to be. Not the best answer but it was good enough for the insurance company.

>>2950977 (OP)
>no setting for southern yellow pine
so use pine. there won't ever be a setting for "what some rando thinks the wood is".

>>2951016
So fuck you man. I'm asking a forum full of human beings because asking google is just asking unreliable AI/sponsored results and asking youtube is just finding obviously sponsored videos and people obviously shilling for a company. I actually spent decades doing restoration and remodelling, but having to test for moisture content is one of the few things I've never had to do. So I'm looking for human input to at least steer me in the right direction because I don't even have anyone IRL to ask. Fucking shit poster.

>>2951017
I know the wood is going to be southern yellow pine. It's what every other exposed piece of lumber in the house is made of.
Also, tell me you've never been a serious wood worker without telling me you've never been a serious wood worker.

>>2951024
Don't pay that "x it for me" poster any mind, the dumbfuck has been posting those all over otherwise worthwhile threads lately. He's not even a janny and he's doing it for free.

>>2951015
That's not a bad idea if you can find some definite dry spots

>>2951024
well I can tell by your thread that you aren't a serious wood worker because you're asking for help here. the last place anyone should ever ask for help.

no self aware human would ever ask for help here.

>>2950977 (OP)
post mom

>>2950977 (OP)
Idk maybe instead you could just watch the humidity.
I run my dehumidifier all summer, but there's one room not connected to my basement, over a crawlspace foundation and I just don't think about it. I think there's a vent but it's under a low deck and basically impossible to inspect.

>>2951024
There is a home inspector in my feeds and I watched him locate moisture spots with a temp sensor to know where to stick the meter in drywall. don't know if that's relevant.

second if the whole house is southern yellow pine you shouldn't have any issue finding a dry bit to calibrate on. even so I would assume 100 year old wood should be dry inside even if it's wet otherwise it would be rotten. I don't understand what you're looking for in that you're either having joist rot and framing failure or you're detecting surface humidity in wood that's 100 years old to what end? I've jacked up a 100+ year old house mind, and we did it because the joists were sagging not because some fancy meter read the moisture content of the wood like some new build with a roof leak.

>>2951172
The concern is "is it moist enough to be conducive to mold grown" or "is it moister than it should be, would the timber benefit from installing a ventilation fan or dehumidifier?". Obviously it isn't sopping wet, that would be obvious. But maybe it's a bit more moist than it should be and an ounce of prevention vs a pound of cure. If it's sitting at 18% or 20% (or more) you can't tell by looking at it or touching it, but it's going to encourage mold underneath the house if it's at that moisture content all the time. And then it's probably a good idea to do a dehumidifier I think. If it's sitting at 15-16%, it isn't bad, but it could be better and a ventilation fan would probably help. If it's below 15%, I'm not going to give a shit, it's fine.
But I need a decent moisture meter to make the determination. Mom bought one, but it was trash, what with the being contactless, plus or minus 4% range on the reading, and the "here's a pile of different woods and the setting you should use (out of 9) when testing them, but if your wood isn't listed use this method to calculate which of the settings to use and the method of calculation requires knowing how much that particular piece of lumber weighs and it's ideal moisture content."
And as I stated, I tried youtube and google, but those waters are hopelessly muddied by AI, shills, sponsored content, and ads. All I want is a human being that can say "Yeah, this is decent meter that'll get the job done." so I don't blow money on some piece of shit and have to buy meter after meter until I get one that's good.

>>2951206
>look under 100yo house
>don't see any mold
>no problem

also mold doesn't grow because of moisture in the beams it grows because of relative humidity under the house. It's like checking the drywall for fart smell it makes zero fucking sense. if shit's dry, no mold. if shit's wet like you accidentally ran the hose under the house and made puddles it's going to fucking mold. it has nothing to do with the beams or the moisture content of the wood, which is a measure of how cured it is and 100yo lumber isn't getting any more cured. you're mother is a fucking retard.

>>2950977 (OP)
Novice woodworker here with a background in electronics. We have a moisture meter at the shop which is used occasionally. While you are correct about the relative moisture content of wood (kiln dried) I think what you're missing is how the percentages work. If there is a 4% error range in the meter it should be relative to the measured 5% moisture content of the wood- ie. 4% of 5%, or .8% total. The meter should work well enough for what you need it to do. Yes there are probably better meters out there but you're measuring 100 year old floor joists not kiln dried beech with 8 inch end checks for cabinet door rails.
Southern yellow pines range in densities from 32 to 36 lbs/ft^3 which according to wood-database.com are used less frequently for lumber so it seems you have good reason for concern.
Best of luck, OP.

>>2951206
> Yeah, this is decent meter that'll get the job done
Doesn’t exist. Buy whatever professional meter, core drill the joist and do a super precise LOD measurement under lab conditions, do a Karl Fischer Titration, buy a NIR machine. Send it to a lab, GCMS, whatever. The resulting moisture reading won’t mean shit for your practical situation because it’s the wrong approach and youre too stubborn to believe it

If you just want a super cool moisture meter and want to know which one is the coolest, just ask for that. Get the fucking $25 stihl it has one button and +-2%