Rant: That $30 moisture meter from Amazon lies constantly

Everyone raves about those cheap moisture meters for checking wood before staining... but mine read 8% on a board that was clearly still wet from rain last week. I tested it on dry lumber from Home Depot and it said 14%. Now I just stick to the old method of taping plastic sheeting to the wood for 24 hours and checking for condensation. It takes longer but it actually works. Has anyone else found those digital meters to be totally unreliable?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandragonzalez3d agoOG Member

...and honestly the plastic test is way more reliable than any gadget under fifty bucks. I used to buy into the hype too but every single one I tried gave me weird readings depending on how hard I pressed on the wood. The trick is you gotta tape that plastic down tight and check it after a full day, not just overnight. I've had boards with a straight-up 12% reading on the meter that after the plastic test showed no moisture at all, just dry wood.

cole_hall3d ago

Man, I totally feel you on this. That bit about "weird readings depending on how hard I pressed on the wood" hit home for me. I had one of those cheap meters and I swear you could get a different number just by holding it at a different angle. It drove me nuts. I ended up tossing mine in the trash after it told me a piece of pressure treated lumber was completely dry right after a heavy dew. The plastic test is slow but it doesn't lie, and at this point I'd rather wait a day than guess with a gadget that's basically a toy.