Can people in installation tell me what they know about moisture meters? I tested a concrete radiant floor we have with plastic taped down for a full 48 hours and there is not a speck of moisture. Yet the moisture meter reads full moisture. I do not want to install ANY floor until I can figure out what is going on. There was vinyl flooring down and replacing it. No moisture underneath - it is ripped up now.
What do you all think? Is the moisture meter reading the water in the radiant heat and wire mesh? Or is there really invisible moisture underneath.?
I'm assuming you didn't drill the slab due to the radiant heat. Did you use a cheapo potted plant soil tester or something?
Separately, if you pulled up vinyl and the concrete wasn't damp and the concrete didn't get dark when you taped down the plastic and the radiant heat is on, baking moisture out, it might have been the tester...
Concrete can look and feel dry, but the moisture can be evaporating off from some point below the surface.
Two good types of flooring where there is moisture are carpet and ceramic. Moisture can evaporate off through the carpet and a non-moisture-barrier type of pad (standard rebond). It can also evaporate off from the grout lines on tile.
Be sure your tester is the proper one for measuring concrete, or that it is calibrated to the proper scale. What is dry for concrete would be damp for hardwood lumber and soaking wet for drywall. Residual moisture levels vary with the type of material. Concrete is an inherently "wet" material and usually has a high moisture level even when it is relatively dry. I've always used 3'x3' of 6 mil poly taped down for 72 hours as a guide. With radiant heat in the floor, moisture should be a non-issue.
I use one of those. Good for drywall, wood or plaster. Never had any success on concrete. Ceramic tile can be a little sketchy. I think some tiles are colored using metal oxides that throw the meter off. It will pick up pipes and conduits concealed inside a wall, so you have to learn how to avoid false readings. I once watched a guy mark off a large section of wall as having wet areas.............all in long vertical streaks. He was reading pipe runs. There was definitely moisture..........inside the pipes. :laughing:
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