acceptable moisture levels in floor joists acceptable moisture levels in floor joists

Keep monitoring it. If the leaks have damaged the sub floor or joists, call a licensed general contractor for repair. I understand that a home inspector expressed concern about fungal growth on the floor framing, so the buyer is concerned that the fungus needs to be removed/cleaned/mitigated from the joists. First of all, it's normal for a below-grade concrete block wall in contact with the soil to have a high moisture content. Thanks. What do you recommend the reader to be at before insulation and drywall on new construction? Keep indoor humidity low. Ev Set the meter to the species that makes up the bulk, in this case, the plywood. Utilize the chart on following page to record the environmental readings at the time of installation. Thanks. This will stop the wet/dry cycle that exists every year, in every ventilated crawl space containing A/C ductwork in the SE United States, over their lifetime. 1. Each piece of lumber is unique and carries physical characteristics that may include the following: knots, warping, shrinkage, swelling and/or splitting. Why Do So Many Homes Have Cracks in Their Brick Veneer? Box 1437 As far as the oil finish, the manufacturer of the oil will specify the correct moisture content for an application. This can lead to rising damp, dry rot, timber decay, fungal growth and borer. A floor joist is a horizontal beam, usually made of wood, that is used to support and enclose the flooring above a foundation. : Mold & Fungus In the Crawlspace. I also applied Boracare (boron) that has stopped minor beetle damage. Since Im drying them outside, being in AK I would like to work with them if possible before the long moist winter. Because ventilated crawl spaces throughout the Southeast United States allow high humidity and fungus spores to enter the enclosed space beneath the home. We are checking moisture levels in several areas each day. The company they hired measured 47% in the wood and declares that this must be ripped out and replaced. i used my dremel with a shaping bit about 1/8 in to cut vertical slits or vents about an inch deep and a couple of inches tall into the bottom 24 and have kept a commercial floor blower on the wood several hours a day for more than a week yet, the number is not going down. Unless something is so out of whack shimming in back of the sheetrock won't suffice it's OK here. The crawl space must be a minimum of 18" to the bottom of the floor joists, and the soil in the crawl space covered with a heavy duty plastic moisture barrier, and sealed at the seams. I buy many Artificial Trees for our Stores, which has Wood Stems/Barks, mainly produced in China & Shipped to UAE. They delivered the wood one day, and began to stain and install it over the next two days, finishing on the 6th day. Any suggestions to this being possible to correct? summary Wood must always be allowed to acclimate or come into balance with the RH of the end-use location. info@rlcengineering.com Most floor joists are single or double, and most often made with 2x6s or 2x8s. My last Wagner was appropriated by the individual who appropriated other tools out of my old sho. We will be having a deck built off my woodshop. Perhaps try to seal the vapor barrier better around the piers. >V@Ica4R%f%l&/R*liDqx/nB*?1MH}Su>VeyZ3?>vMLqcwY^U. It is also possible to have moisture content readings over 100%. Having performed multiple (>500) soil moisture and density Sieve and Proctor, so I am well versed in moisture calculations (both add and subtract). We have had an abnormally wet spring and part of summer. Very simple and understandable. They need to carry a moisture meter with them under houses and probe the floor joists to measure wood moisture content. We dont know if we still should be having a commercial drying process? We just had a hydrometer installed in the crawlspace and it is reading 38% as of today. Im planning on using some of it to build a new front door for the house and was wondering what MC I should be shooting for. Under the floor. This can be a problem once installed in furniture or a floor. My thought is maybe to get one of your meter for greater accuracy? A study by Imamura and Kiguchi (1999) showed that wood moisture content in excess of 20% can cause a 5% loss of nail shank diameter in four years and a projected 25% loss in 30 years. Higher values could mean a wet or saturated material. As the humidity decreases, the MC decreases, causing the wood to shrink. To avoid this problem, wood flooring should never be stored where environmental conditions are uncontrolled, such as garages and exterior patios. The flooring pieces should be removed from the packaging to allow the ambient conditions to equalize the wood. Remember that the meter assumes it is reading timber. Once the summer cooling season ends, and the A/C is shut off, and the outside air cools, and the humidity drops significantly, the cool dry air now flowing beneath the home dries out the floor joists. That is way beyond fibre-saturation. Different joinery (currently using pocket holes)? Its more important to understand that the wood is kiln-dried down to a certain bell-shaped range of MCs. The photo shows a floor that is out of level over four or so boards adjacent to the external wall. Add 1 to this value and round up the answer to the next whole number: 7.40625 + 1 = 8.40625 9 floor joists. . I read your article and really like it. Were in northern Indiana, humid summers long cold winters. Here current humidity is 76%. Ideally, you want to check the EMC in the area you will be working on your slab, along with the area it will live in. On truss/joist spacing of 16" (406mm) o/c or less, the industry standard for single- panel subflooring is nominal 5/8" (19/32", 15.1 mm) CD Exposure 1 Plywood subfloor panels ( CD Exposure 1) or 23/32" OSB Exposure 1 subfloor panels, 4' x 8' sheets. We will be building fir windows. Turn on the meter. Thanks for any help you can provide! Post and beam constructions don't have to be kiln-dried but should be air-dried. If a board reads 100% (Difficult to measure accurately) then the weight of the water equals the weight of that wood. With the WoodH2O-app I could deduct the EMC for The Netherlands would be between 15 and 16. Thanks!!! And would it be normal for the MC to vary from board-to-board and one end of a board to the other? So, to sum up, Moisture in crawlspaces is bad. My question for you is: after a smallish unheated underground space (similar to a basement, i.e. Currently the RH is 76%, the residence RH will be set at around 35%. These home inspectors are insecure and inexperienced. So, is it really this wet or is our meter over-reading? "R. I had several of the varnished decorative hardwood laminated ply panels replaced in the lounge on an air conditioned luxury yacht. I had a pin meter but found I had to put the pins in the ends or try to find an area that wouldnt be seen, so Im thinking a pinless might be better. Step 1: Check the Floor. Lets go over the basics of each, Oven dry testing is the oldest method for measuring the moisture content of wood. A contractor is measuring sill plates by driving 2 SS Screws into the wood about 1-1/2 or so inches. As long as the moisture content does not exceed those readings you should be ok. First time this has happened (splitting that is). I am having a section of our 3.25 Maple hardwood floor replaced. h_k0 r ?c|@+wpF=M^r? ( BzPxgA9P{j]s 3r\WQu\@U.Jy'h{>dccy. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has a chart that indicates the moisture content of wood at any given combination of temperature and humidity. Condensation present on the . What is the acceptable water/moisture content in cassia bark?- in south east asia. Most interior wood is in this range. There are areas where organic growth was very active to cause deep, black discolorization. how do I determine the mc standard for this material, is it the same as wood or has its own specifications, 2. These tools will give you the confidence that you have done everything on your part to ensure the highest quality in the piece you have built. Decay fungi need liquid water to grow. 2nd question, will lacquer on surface of flooring affect the reading. Every home's foundation repair needs are different based on soil type, type of foundation problem, and climate. Many timber-framed floor problems can be traced to moisture levels, excessive loads or borer. I had a quick looked around the crawl space and didnt notice any structure damage. It does the same for wood, and is especially hard on softwoods, such as pine or fir. For boundary materials, the values vary depending on the physical properties of what you are . Toilet overflowed and moisture meter is reading 30% in worst area. Pinless moisture meters are even easier to use. Doesnt sound like this has been a problem in the past. RH where they were built is about 29-30%. Here is a link to our website for more information: https://www.wagnermeters.com/shop/orion-950-smart/. Use a wet/dry shop vacuum, sump pump, or rags to clean up standing water or excess moisture from the floor and from the surface of the wood. Just press the scanning plate against the woods surface, turn on the meter, and receive the reading. Replaced the subfloor, which is . Before installing plywood underlayment, ensure that the existing flooring is thoroughly vacuumed, free from debris, and stripped of wax. Spruce isnt a hardwood so Im assuming I could get away with a shorter dry time. But the table will be inside? This method uses the oven-dry method and then compares the results to those obtained using a moisture meter. A dry reading will be 16% MC (Moisture Content) or below. Kiln-dried timber should be kept dry. The joist span tables start with 26 lumber and it goes all the way up to 212. I am based in The Netherlands. Floor joists come in dimensional lumber lengths from 8 to 16 feet or more. 11 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 15 /H [ 1017 209 ] /L 26721 /E 14333 /N 2 /T 26383 >> endobj xref 11 18 0000000016 00000 n 0000000724 00000 n 0000000820 00000 n 0000000963 00000 n 0000001226 00000 n 0000001393 00000 n 0000001566 00000 n 0000001771 00000 n 0000002827 00000 n 0000002934 00000 n 0000004271 00000 n 0000005322 00000 n 0000005517 00000 n 0000007871 00000 n 0000007949 00000 n 0000009756 00000 n 0000001017 00000 n 0000001206 00000 n trailer << /Size 29 /Info 10 0 R /Encrypt 13 0 R /Root 12 0 R /Prev 26373 /ID[<2277e06d91c56aa37caf41071ab29f47><2277e06d91c56aa37caf41071ab29f47>] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 12 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 9 0 R /PageMode /UseThumbs /OpenAction 14 0 R >> endobj 13 0 obj << /Filter /Standard /V 1 /R 2 /O (D+K\r,s\n?$+%{Nhjp-!) During the summer months, when outdoor humidity is high, the hot/humid air enters the crawl space through the foundation vents and condenses on cool objects. Thanks for the question. It is a 2-3 feet wide wet area that drains to a line connected to the city system. What would one expect to read in plywood subfloor and old growth pine floor joist? Any suggestions .thanks. The amount of swelling or shrinkage depends on how much the . The subfloor registered from 12% to 17% . I have some black walnut and cherry that Ive milled and want to make some charcuterie, cheese, bread boardsetc with, would the 6 8% dryness apply to this or what would you recommend? I-joists are comprised of top and bottom flanges, which resist bending, united with webs, which provide outstanding shear resistance. However, the wood species and the thickness or size of the wood may also factor in. The best way to do this is to use an accurate moisture meter. Also, the glue manufacturer should ideally give you some specifications for max and min moisture content. Soil is almost always damp. Timber framing needs to be dried to acceptable moisture content levels as stipulated in NZS 3602:2003 Timber and wood-based products for use in building. Specifically in the first 3-4 on one side of the door is 11%, then drops to ~8%. Its not growing or feeding on the wood. Are the measurements of all wood the same? I not sure if this is normal, related to the re-shim or need to install a crawl space dehumidifier to slow the progression? Hello and thanks for writing in. For solid strip flooring (less than 3 wide) there should be no more than a 4% difference in moisture content between properly acclimated wood flooring and subflooring materials. hL can be laid with falls and set downs. However, a general rule of thumb is that the basement's humidity level is not over 30 - 50 percent. I am shipping teakwood furniture from Indonesia to California. In March of this year I had new white oak 2 flooring installed. Call 256-318-0982 or contact us today. This is for furniture-grade hardwoods. Hi Larry, So a friend of mine has some pine and oak blabs at MC levels of (oak 11.5%) and Pine 13-14%. After reading your article and following comments, my question is : How much does the finish of a wood project for indoor use affect the moisture content? The Building Code states that houses must be built so that a 50-year flood will not enter the building. in other hardwood areas that wasnt close to the water, was measuring about 16-19%. Which Orion moisture meter model would you suggest for my application? somewhere. /U (li7":-JOBHO,9UY) /P 65492 >> endobj 14 0 obj << /S /GoTo /D [ 15 0 R /Fit ] >> endobj 27 0 obj << /S 45 /T 91 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 28 0 R >> stream Again, the correct moisture content will depend on the surrounding conditions. When it hits the cooler air of the crawl space, it increases the relative humidity by about 2% per degree! I so appreciate your treatise on this issue. "Mold requires moisture to survive, so protecting lumber and wood structures from moisture will prevent mold growth. It will be there for a few months before I begin working on it. For example, if the moisture content of the delivered wood is 12% and the optimal MC is 6%, then physical problems will occur during the acclimation process. They were installed over existing plywood subfloor. The ASTM D4442 standard determines the accuracy of wood moisture meters. Should I wait for the slabs to be within that 6-9% to cut and glue? Using South Carolina Residential Construction Standards to Solve Problems, Website by Integritive Web Design :: Asheville, NC. After my inspection I wrote the following report: As per your request, I visited the subject residence today to evaluate mold or fungus growth on the floor joists. Therefore, just because the wood is kiln-dried doesnt mean it has lost the ability to absorb moisture. Even with lower temperatures, the ideal range for wood keeps relative humidity between 55% and 75%. There is only so much moisture a piece of wood can give up, over time, before a failure occurs. Crawl Space Inspections: Once a Year Keeps the Contractors Away! The excess moisture source should be corrected if found. 0 WM=8DBaHh10tIKR/OH}X5Kpt'_]4Mfg9@w8~ n$R Any opinions. Other than causing structural damage, too much water can result in mold growth. -25% moisture content in a VENTED crawl space. The water eventually came out a electric outlet located three inches off the floor. In your blog I read that furniture for outdoor is dried to a MC between 9 and 14%. The house was not in the flood area however they did receive 20 inches of rain. Required fields are marked *. WagnerMeters 1.93K subscribers 3.2K views 1 year ago Hardwood Flooring - Tips & Problems Do you work with wood? As a general rule, with geographic exceptions, wood flooring performs best when the interior environment is controlled to stay within an RH range of 30% to 50% and a temperature range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. . The acceptable wood moisture content normally ranges from 6% to 8% for woodworkers who build cabinets, fine furniture, musical instruments, dishes, toys, decorative art, boat restoration, or various other wood products. Wall Corners-Perpendicular within 1/4" in 10'. Do you have any recommendations on how to prevent mold from getting on the wood? Second, would the same pine slab, would it be okay to use for a side table or Kitchen island. If humidity levels in the crawlspace with all these measures taken place is above 60% the joist and the subfloor will have a high MC reading. Bird, who runs the School of Fine Woodworking outside Knoxville, Tennessee, says he knows wood shrinks seasonally but wants to minimize the shrinkage and expansion by drying the wood to a moisture content of about 8%. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has specific installation guidelines for wood flooring and how they relate to moisture content. 10 14% moisture content is too high. hello I been getting very sick in my home so I had my manger do a mold and moisture test which came back high level of moisture levels which a contractor wants to take the sub floor up and 2 to 4 inches of the wall but my apartment manger is not releasing to report and hes is saying the spore test didnt pick up any mold spore question is it safe for me and my family to be in the home with high level of moisture in the restroom which the floor have been really soft for over 9 months now as well as the kids bedroom where a pipe burst. The joists can be longer or shorter as required by space and size, and are typically spaced at either 450mm or 600mm apart. Your help for resolving this issue would be highly appreciated . Wood Rot in Crawl Spaces: Whats That Smell in My House. A dehumidifier in the crawlspace will help but can be expensive. The shipping time is approximately 45 day in a 40 container to the west coast . Thanks for the question. Acclimation is the process for conditioning the moisture content of wood flooring to the environment where it will be installed. I have seen home built in the dead of winter, covered in snow, and still dry out enough for a successful home build. Characteristic of this wood easy to absorb of water and have large open pore. What are Acceptable Moisture Levels in Wood? -XF% Normal moisture content of wood ranges from 7% to 19%. Furniture grade wood is typically dried to a target of 6%-9%. When wood is subjected to an environment that is higher in humidity, it will swell or expand. Oh no! Grain orientation matters When you do this, you not only ensure that the entire batch is okay on average, but youre also far likelier to catch boards that are statistical outliers and could cause problems. Can I get a away with this? During my visit, I crawled to the four main corners of the crawl space and probed the floor system with an electronic moisture meter during this traverse. We found out that RH at the final location was under 20%. Prior to the flooring installation, make sure your subfloor has not experienced leaks or other water damage. These WMC readings are usually provided by pest control operators, and are included in the termite letter (form CL-100 Official South Carolina Wood Infestation Report). In your area, wood that has been in an environment to a duration of time would be between 6-11%. Be on the lookout for flooring failures such as swelling, buckling, cupping, etc. The ceiling in the bedroom above the chimney breast shows signs of damp however doesn't feel damp/moist. The conversion puts the adjusted MC between 9.5 -> 12%. Thanks in advance for your input! Here is a link to our moisture meters, thermo-hygrometer, and Smart Logger. Hello Folks, I am new to wood turning and do not have a ready supply of dry/seasoned (my wood is green) wood. Good luck. Maximum Moisture Content Of Concrete This is a nominal value most product manufacturers specify when concrete is dry enough to allow their product to lay down on it. Great article, thanks for the info. Yes, it is possible to have a moisture content reading of 99.9%. This is all very helpful information, thanks! The other was for a $100 retail gift card. Typical humidity levels inside a home is between 40 to 50%. The fastest way to test the moisture content of wood is to use a moisture meter. Also, if the leak was bad enough, it will be necessary to have a contractor make sure the strength of the subfloor isnt compromised. The thinner veneers wont have much bearing on the reading. Moisture was around 25% when milled, and the ends were sealed. Thank you. You should be able to specify a lower moisture content. Here's a good rule of thumb: Notches should be no deeper than 1/6 the depth of the joist. Your email address will not be published. Thank you for the helpful article. Understanding the effects moisture has on timber, as well as acceptable moisture levels in wood flooring, will keep your timber floor looking pristine throughout its lifetime.