Moisture meters what do you use?

[Mark Parlee]

I am needing to purchase a moisture meter that will give me a good idea as to what may be going on behind drywall, EIFS, and other materials used for cladding a wall.

Is there one that stands above the rest, or is it going to take more than one as one may advantages that another may not have, but you have to get two in order to have everything you need?

Wondering about pins Vs. no pins and accuracy. I don't want to be invasive where I don't have to be but that may not always be an option when it comes to getting in there and seeing what's going on behind EIFS or drywall.

[kurtmit]

Protimeter Surveymaster, but that's not going to do EIFS unless you get the attachements and deep probes.

It's excellent for everything else.

[denboy1]

You want to bite the bullet and get a Tramex moisture meter, which is a pinless type. Delmhorst pin-type units are good for measuring sheathing moisture content. Tramex site: https://tramexltd.com/us/contact.php

Learn to use it competently. Most untrained "inspectors" mislead homeowners either intentionally or on purpose by improperly reading what the meter is telling them. Metal especially sets them off. Incompetent reporting sets me off.

Dennis

[NW Architect]

Another vote for the Protimeter Surveymaster

[kurtmit]

Tramex is excellent for non-invasive, but when you need pins, you need pins.

That's why it's nice to have machinery that will do both.

[sailboatescape]

I have used the Tramex for 12 years and give it high marks. Here is my application: the homeowner thinks the wall is wet but there are no visable signs. With a non invasive meter you can quickly run it all over the wall and either relieve them or confirm their suspicions as you check it thoroughly. With a pin type, how many holes are you going to poke in a wall that doesn't show signs of damage before you quit poking?--probably two at most.

[Bill Robinson]

Are you gong into the inspection business Mark or just want to be better able to advise homeowners on the condition of their exterior walls?

The non-invasive ones will indicate moisture content below the surface w/o inflicting damage.
The pin type are limited to pin depth and do leave holes.

I use both.
I do not do inspections but want to be able to tell if there are elevated levels of moisture in certain materials.


For initial inspections I would lean toward the non invasive ones like this Delmhorst. The more you spend the better they are but how good does it need to be?

Bill R

[kurtmit]

Here's where fun begins....

Tramex/non-invasive "finds" moisture (can't really tell if it's moisture or metal; heck, I've even had durock give me a false positive.) If no pins or deep probes, one then gets to tear the wall open to see what's what.

With pins, one can drill 2-1/8" holes 1" apart and insert deep probes to see if it's moisture or a false positive. Without pins, one gets to open the wall. Which one would you like to do? There's also the EIFS pin probes that are about 1/16"; holes barely visible, and easily patched when through.

It's really nice to have pins and non-invasive combined; Tramex doesn't give you that. It's the best non-invasive for large area scanning, but when you need to know for sure, it only tells you where you're going to tear the wall open, not what's really in there.

Magic machinery like the Tramex can be really dangerous; it can take you places you don't want to go.

[Dick Seibert]

Mark:

Denboy is right on, I've got both the Tramex Wet Wall Detector and the Delmhorst J-2000, and as you know by now I buy only the best (usually the most expensive) products I can find. I use the Delmhorst for checking the moisture content in wood, mostly hardwood flooring, and the Tramex for leaking walls and windows. I've seen mold remediation contractors use the Tramex and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but once I spent my $1,000 I soon found how fraud can easily be perpetrated with it. I called the manufacturer's Colorado office seeking advice and the best I could get out of them was to take in out into my garage and practice. It was designed for EIFS and with three-coat stucco it's worthless from the outside because of the wire in the stucco, from the inside it not only goes off when you find nails and hangers, but even thick wood members like headers give you false positive readings.

I am impressed with sailboatescape's success, I've had mine for 17 years now and dust it off occasionally, maybe he could give us some pointers on how to use it for anything other than impressing customers, scaring them if you want to, or on the other hand showing them that there is no moisture in the walls, I can make it do anything I want, short of actually telling me if there is moisture in the walls.

[Mark Parlee]

Bill

I do want to be able to access the wall system and give some educated advice as to what I am going to find. I am not planning in the inspection business but I do some consulting and that does require to some investigation.
This would be a tool for me to see if a wall is taking on or has taken on water.
At the present I have an EIFS clad wall that I know has taken on some moisture but have two suspicions as two the source. It would be nice to confirm both or find which one to deny . Also I have a window that I believe is the source of another leak and it would be nice to get thru the drywall and into the insulation

I would like to be able to have the versatility of a meter that does both is this an option or do I have to buy both

Dick do you have any advice other than to buy both meters

If I was only to purchase one, which one?

[Bill Robinson]

Non-Destructive.

You will find you do need both and once you remember that a $250 cordless drill is no big thing the cost will be nada compared to the feeling of prosperity>;} from having two moisture meters.

Bill R

[Dick Seibert]

Mark:

We don't have much EIFS around here, it went as fast as it came so I've never tried it on EIFS. I suspect it would work fine on EIFS because you shouldn't find too much metal in the walls, try to lay out your studs first so you can go between them. I wouldn't buy a pin meter if all I was going to be doing was EFIS walls, but is it worth $1,000 for one job? Ask whomever you buy it from about training, I've never figured out how to use it effectively, I try to keep it away from metal and between studs, play with the sensitivity settings, I can turn the volume up on the beeper and scare the Hell out of customers.

BTW, check your insurance, mine won't let me touch EIFS.

[kurtmit]

Bill


If I was only to purchase one, which one?

The Protimeter has pins and non-invasive, but the non-invasive, is quite minimal; it'll only "go" about 1" into a wall. 1 1/2" tops. The Tramex will go about 3" +- Also, the non-invasives won't show "standing" water; it'll only show you dispersed water.

I've taken a Tramex, poured a puddle of water onto a floor, laid viny sheet over, and it won't find the water. Pour the same amount of water into an absorbent material like drywall or insulation, let it soak in, lay the vinyl over that, then test, and it will sound the alarm. It has something to do w/the ability of the radio wave to bounce off vapor, but not a thin sheet of water.

The Tramex takes a lot of practice & dinking around to get to the point where you can interpret what it's telling you. And, you still have to open the wall to know what the heck you're looking at when it goes off.

The guys I know that do EIFS remediation use both; Tramex for large area scans, Protimeter/pin types to nail down the realities.

[Mark Parlee]

Bill

Which two, the ones you recommended earlier?

Dick
The EIFS will come off and be replaced with a new system we are using here.

We put Hardie sheets on the wall then they put a material on that finishes much like the old Dryvit

http://www.stucoflex.com/

I do not know how this will play out but everyone loves the look

I have not done one of these personally but it looks like the way to go if a person is bent on the stucco look

[Mark Parlee]

Thanks for the info Kurt

Sometimes it may be nice to have an infrared camera but that would sure put a stretch on the old budget now wouldn't it