evab52•16d ago

Been using moisture meters wrong for 25 years and just found out

I was at a lumberyard in Burlington last week and the guy behind the counter showed me a data sheet from Delmhorst about how pin meters actually read surface moisture only, not the core. He had a stack of test results showing oak planks that read 8% on the outside but were still 18% in the middle after a month of drying. I always thought if the surface was good, the whole board was good. Is there a better way to check deep moisture without cutting every piece open?

2 comments

2 Comments

burns.fiona16d ago

Learned that same lesson the hard way with cedar fencing a few years back. It's like how your phone says its at 20% battery and then dies in two minutes because the real charge is lower than what's showing. We trust these surface level readings on everything from lumber to appliances to even people, and then get surprised when something deeper is off. So yeah, cutting a test piece or using those longer pins is the only real way to tell what's actually going on inside.

fisher.charlie16d ago

Get yourself a moisture meter with longer pins, like 1.5 inches or even 2 inch ones for thick lumber. Tbh I've been there too it's frustrating. I had a whole pallet of walnut that read 7% on the surface but was still weeping water when I jointed it. Ngl you can also try the pinless meters that scan deeper but they aren't perfect either. A quick tip is to cut a small block off the end of a suspect board and test the fresh face if you really need to be sure.