Acceptable Moisture Levels In Plaster Walls

If there are quite small amounts of moisture in a wall of dense plaster or brick then a meter will probably indicate over 20 or so and this will be in the red zone or beeps and squeeks may happen.

Acceptable moisture levels in plaster walls.

The entire damp industry relies on what i call the ping prong meter or in the industry its known as a damp meter moisture meter or protimeter. Acceptable moisture levels in different types of material such as drywall concrete wood ect. Normal readings measure between 7 and 13 percent. This is the culprit a piece of electronic gadgetry that does not measure water content it measures conductivity.

Rhensel russell hensel november 2 2010 7 38pm 2. Green building council s green guide moisture levels in a home should remain under 50 percent. Interpretation of 5 there is nothing wrong with the contents of the digest as it is actually written. Wall moisture content can vary over a day or seasonally anything from 0 20 and it will vary by location too damp meters are not designed for walls or ceilings and give incorrect readings in anything except bare untreated timber and you are only measuring surface condensation moisture which is normal and a bit meaningless.

Maintaining the proper moisture level in a house is essential for keeping drywall at its optimum level of dryness. A separate reference scale setting can be used for getting qualitative readings of moisture in other wall materials like plaster. The speedy chemical moisture meter gives a quantitative reading of the total moisture content in masonry. Less than 5 total moisture content at the base of a wall is unlikely to represent severe rising dampness and around 5 at the base of a wall the base of a wall means the base i e at the floor wall junction not 100mm 250 mm etc above is a broad guideline to suggest some action.

Zero moisture is unrealistic even wood used to frame a house contains some amount of moisture. Retain higher levels of moisture before directly being affected by the damp process. The follow table provides examples showing the percentage moisture and the readings interpretation. Compare the reading to ideal moisture levels.

I would think these. Material moisture content interpretation wood 4 extremely dry mortar 4 dry brick 4 damp plaster 4 very wet wood 12 air dry brick 12 saturated. As a standard with a moisture meter.