Concrete slabs and floors can be excellent subfloor surfaces for tile and other floor coverings but too much moisture in the concrete can cause problems with flooring installations.
Acceptable moisture levels for laminate flooring.
Laminate flooring may present a durable plasticized surface to your feet but it s made mostly of wood fibers and wood is sensitive to moisture.
To make sure that the moisture content of wood flooring is in the right range many professionals use flooring moisture meters to test their wood flooring materials and.
With that said you should take a moisture reading before installing your flooring to make sure it is acceptable.
Measuring moisture in wood flooring.
Testing wood subfloors.
Drier climates can drop as low as 4.
Therefore it s advisable to have a floor tested for moisture content prior to installing flooring or moisture barriers.
Wood moisture meters for flooring applications come in two varieties.
Wood subfloors are actually easy to check for moisture content just test for moisture at several locations in the room and average the results fig.
Ideally you re looking for the moisture content of your subfloor to be 2 or less.
1 to prevent moisture migration up through concrete substrates located on and below grade and damage to installed floor coverings the concrete slab shall be protected from ground moisture and hydrostatic pressure by the use of an industry approved vapour retarder moisture barrier or waterproof membrane having a permeance of less than 0 3 perms 0 2 metric perms in accordance with astm e 96.
Because it expands and contracts with fluctuating.
14 is the highest moisture reading acceptable for wood subfloors.
What happens when humidity and laminate mix.
1 in most regions of the country a dry wood subfloor that is ready to work has a moisture content of 12 percent or less or down to about 6 in states with low rh relative humidity.
As the humidity levels rise above 60 your flooring expands.
Ideally you should aim to have a reading of somewhere between 35 and 40 humidity air or 2 3 moisture content before laying your new floor.
The fastest way to measure moisture in floors is to use a moisture meter for wood.
If your subfloor is concrete and recently laid you re likely to face more of a challenge when it comes to moisture.
Because laminate is installed using a tongue in groove click to lock system this expansion can push the sides of each plank into each other causing them to buckle.
If the moisture content of wood flooring isn t right then it can warp buckle or even delaminate causing significant damage and ruining the aesthetic value of the flooring.
Mannington columbia mohawk quickstep unilin each state that subfloor moisture content may not exceed 12.
Since these companies do not specify the type of meter used either a pin or noninvasive is acceptable under their subfloor moisture testing standards toylys states that subfloor moisture content may not exceed 10.
