Moisture Testing

Ensuring that materials are dry is essential in healthy building. Building materials can be ruined by moisture damage. The follow­ing four building practices can cause warp­ing, deterioration of materials, and microbial growth:

1. Application of finish flooring materials over insufficiently cured concrete slabs

2. Failure to quickly and thoroughly dry out precipitation that enters an unfinished structure

3. Installation of wood members with a mois­ture content greater than 17 percent

4. Enclosure of walls containing wet-applied insulation systems, such as cellulose or spray foams, before they are properly cured

It is not always possible to detect by visual in­spection whether a material is wet. A variety of test procedures have been developed to as­sist in determining if a material is dry.