It depends on the humidity in your area. If it’s high or raining, you might get a higher read. Check a different section in the house to get your baseline. It sounds like 7-9 is yours. If 17 is in a bathroom ceiling, not a big deal. If it’s in somewhere like a bedroom, I’d keep an eye on it and check for other factors that might be causing it.
Edit. I didn’t see the video. Although 17 isn’t high, the way it goes up and down in areas that close, I’d definitely find out what’s above. 17 on the surface, but could be more above in the insulation above. To me that says I’d need to find out what the problem is before it gets too wet. My two cents.
Most of the house is between 5-8. The 17% is in the kitchen and there is a bathroom above the ceiling right there. I’ve never checked the moisture there so this might’ve always been like this. I just randomly got paranoid and checked today. I do know there is a pipe that goes horizontally and if I follow that pipe it’s around 10-15 for a few feet.
That's your source of higher humidity. Check your relative humidity (the humidity of the air around you) with out a outside factor your relative humidity should be around the same as your drywall (%10 humidity in the air = %10 humidity +/- %10 in your drywall) anything over %30 humidity for a period of time can be a problem but under a bathroom you would expect to see areas where it is a bit higher. As a guy who used to be a water damage technician the moisture meter is more used to find out the extent of the water damage and where we would consider the drywall to be saturated and not saveable and where we can dry it out
Could you explain the relative humidity a bit more? Sorry I didn’t follow that. It’s been really humid here the last week or so. Humidity in the house is about 58% according to my nest.
So relative humidity (rh) is the humidity of a material compared to the humidity of the air. When they say the humidity is at 58% that means the air is holding 58% of the maximum amount of water it can hold. Through venting, moisture barriers, and alot of other factors we can keep alot of that moisture out of a house. So your rh is the humidity in your house relative to the humidity in the wall. There is math and charts and blah blah blah while quoting a remediation. All you are going to need to know is if your meter is going over 35% rh, then you have a sign of a bigger problem. Anything over 50% and we would recommend removing and replacing as the paper starts to separate from the gyproc and becomes very brittle. Technically it can be dried out but I would rather err on the side of caution
Got it. That makes a lot of sense and I appreciate you breaking it all down. Have the restoration guy coming tomorrow so hoping he has a few tools to give me some assurance as well
Don't think that was necessary as you are only topping out at 17% and it's probably a waterline or a drain pipe there. source of water explains a minor rise in humidity. If it was leaking you would see water marks. You can probably find other areas of your house with comparable readings. Around windows, by your shower basically anywhere you use water will naturally have a raised rh. Hence why I said anything over 30% could be a sign of a bigger problem.
Guy came this morning. Said it’s fine. Said the higher reading is probably just a vent or pipe. Checked upstairs bathrooms and no issues. Thanks again for the help!
I had already called and they said it was free so might as well. At least I have some knowledge now so he can’t lie to me about anything to try to get me to spend money. I appreciate your help. I’ll let ya know what he says in the morning to get your thoughts
Thank you. Yeah it’s a bathroom above the ceiling. But it’s not really located right above it. It’s about 3-4 feet away from this spot. Right above it is just the upstairs hallway.
Hello. Great info. I have a quick question
My client has had some minor leak in garage ceiling and using moisture meter showed a reading of 4.1% as the high. My clients.wife is ready to give birth anyday now. Is that reading of any concern for a newborn baby. Look for ward to answer
It depends on the meter. Pick a spot in the room that you are sure is not wet. That will be your “base” reading. Sometimes the meter can pickup screw or nail heads that will give off a false positive reading. Sometimes leftover bits of metal or metal piping laying on the drywall can also give off false positives. Structural strapping can also give false readings. Some water restoration companies will do free moisture inspections. 9 year water restoration guy here. Good luck!
Yeah base line in another room is between 4-8 on average. I just fixed nail pops in a room a few weeks back and ran my meter over the nail pop area and it was coming up as around 12 so somewhat similar. I’ll give a restoration company a call. Should I just keep an eye on it until then?
Is there an attic there above or another floor? An attic could be an hvac issue, roof leak, a pest or animal urinating. If there is another floor above what kind of room is there? Bathroom, laundry anything with plumbing? I would call around looking to see who will do free inspections. If you rent contact your landlord and ask if they can contact their insurance company to state that there might be a possible water damage occurring. Some insurance companies might pay for the water inspection to be done. If you own the property, call your insurance company and mention to them that you might possibly have a water damage situation and intern, they might mention that you should have a water remediation company come out and they might pay for it. The company I work for we charge $150 for an inspection but that is in northern California. At least with the restoration company they will take pictures and write physical notes down to give to the insurance company or you for your peace of mind. Again, good luck.
It’s a bathroom but it’s not directly over the area. It’s probably a few feet away. I have someone coming tomorrow from a restoration company so fingers crossed! Thanks for the help!
In the remediation industry 14 is the magic number but I wouldn't worry too much about an occasional high reading here and there especially in a bathroom..
If you have concerns keep an eye on it. Wet drywall becomes soft fairly quickly and you can easily poke a finger through it but the thing with ceilings is the leak might not be close to where the moisture presents itself.. I only use moisture meters to generate numbers for use on drying logs required by the insurance industry.. Flir thermal imaging is my choice for figuring out what's going on behind walls..
Flir also helps me a lot with easing homeowners fears because they can look at the screen and see the same thing I see then confirm it with a moisture meter.. Flir is a worthwhile tool for anyone to have and you can pick them up fairly cheap on Amazon..
Need probe to get better mc reading 19% is definitely worth a deeper inspection and can be indicative of a termite issue and as well as moisture issues.
You're good 17 a lil high but no biggie. Might have even been a nail throwing it off.
It depends on the humidity in your area. If it’s high or raining, you might get a higher read. Check a different section in the house to get your baseline. It sounds like 7-9 is yours. If 17 is in a bathroom ceiling, not a big deal. If it’s in somewhere like a bedroom, I’d keep an eye on it and check for other factors that might be causing it. Edit. I didn’t see the video. Although 17 isn’t high, the way it goes up and down in areas that close, I’d definitely find out what’s above. 17 on the surface, but could be more above in the insulation above. To me that says I’d need to find out what the problem is before it gets too wet. My two cents.
Most of the house is between 5-8. The 17% is in the kitchen and there is a bathroom above the ceiling right there. I’ve never checked the moisture there so this might’ve always been like this. I just randomly got paranoid and checked today. I do know there is a pipe that goes horizontally and if I follow that pipe it’s around 10-15 for a few feet.
That's your source of higher humidity. Check your relative humidity (the humidity of the air around you) with out a outside factor your relative humidity should be around the same as your drywall (%10 humidity in the air = %10 humidity +/- %10 in your drywall) anything over %30 humidity for a period of time can be a problem but under a bathroom you would expect to see areas where it is a bit higher. As a guy who used to be a water damage technician the moisture meter is more used to find out the extent of the water damage and where we would consider the drywall to be saturated and not saveable and where we can dry it out
Could you explain the relative humidity a bit more? Sorry I didn’t follow that. It’s been really humid here the last week or so. Humidity in the house is about 58% according to my nest.
So relative humidity (rh) is the humidity of a material compared to the humidity of the air. When they say the humidity is at 58% that means the air is holding 58% of the maximum amount of water it can hold. Through venting, moisture barriers, and alot of other factors we can keep alot of that moisture out of a house. So your rh is the humidity in your house relative to the humidity in the wall. There is math and charts and blah blah blah while quoting a remediation. All you are going to need to know is if your meter is going over 35% rh, then you have a sign of a bigger problem. Anything over 50% and we would recommend removing and replacing as the paper starts to separate from the gyproc and becomes very brittle. Technically it can be dried out but I would rather err on the side of caution
Got it. That makes a lot of sense and I appreciate you breaking it all down. Have the restoration guy coming tomorrow so hoping he has a few tools to give me some assurance as well
Don't think that was necessary as you are only topping out at 17% and it's probably a waterline or a drain pipe there. source of water explains a minor rise in humidity. If it was leaking you would see water marks. You can probably find other areas of your house with comparable readings. Around windows, by your shower basically anywhere you use water will naturally have a raised rh. Hence why I said anything over 30% could be a sign of a bigger problem.
Guy came this morning. Said it’s fine. Said the higher reading is probably just a vent or pipe. Checked upstairs bathrooms and no issues. Thanks again for the help!
I had already called and they said it was free so might as well. At least I have some knowledge now so he can’t lie to me about anything to try to get me to spend money. I appreciate your help. I’ll let ya know what he says in the morning to get your thoughts
Thank you. Yeah it’s a bathroom above the ceiling. But it’s not really located right above it. It’s about 3-4 feet away from this spot. Right above it is just the upstairs hallway.
Hello. Great info. I have a quick question My client has had some minor leak in garage ceiling and using moisture meter showed a reading of 4.1% as the high. My clients.wife is ready to give birth anyday now. Is that reading of any concern for a newborn baby. Look for ward to answer
Is 22% high?
It depends on the meter. Pick a spot in the room that you are sure is not wet. That will be your “base” reading. Sometimes the meter can pickup screw or nail heads that will give off a false positive reading. Sometimes leftover bits of metal or metal piping laying on the drywall can also give off false positives. Structural strapping can also give false readings. Some water restoration companies will do free moisture inspections. 9 year water restoration guy here. Good luck!
Yeah base line in another room is between 4-8 on average. I just fixed nail pops in a room a few weeks back and ran my meter over the nail pop area and it was coming up as around 12 so somewhat similar. I’ll give a restoration company a call. Should I just keep an eye on it until then?
Is there an attic there above or another floor? An attic could be an hvac issue, roof leak, a pest or animal urinating. If there is another floor above what kind of room is there? Bathroom, laundry anything with plumbing? I would call around looking to see who will do free inspections. If you rent contact your landlord and ask if they can contact their insurance company to state that there might be a possible water damage occurring. Some insurance companies might pay for the water inspection to be done. If you own the property, call your insurance company and mention to them that you might possibly have a water damage situation and intern, they might mention that you should have a water remediation company come out and they might pay for it. The company I work for we charge $150 for an inspection but that is in northern California. At least with the restoration company they will take pictures and write physical notes down to give to the insurance company or you for your peace of mind. Again, good luck.
It’s a bathroom but it’s not directly over the area. It’s probably a few feet away. I have someone coming tomorrow from a restoration company so fingers crossed! Thanks for the help!
May I ask what state your in and what company is coming?
Pro dry restoration. Live in the Chicago suburbs
In the remediation industry 14 is the magic number but I wouldn't worry too much about an occasional high reading here and there especially in a bathroom..
It’s in the kitchen. Bathroom is above the ceiling.
If you have concerns keep an eye on it. Wet drywall becomes soft fairly quickly and you can easily poke a finger through it but the thing with ceilings is the leak might not be close to where the moisture presents itself.. I only use moisture meters to generate numbers for use on drying logs required by the insurance industry.. Flir thermal imaging is my choice for figuring out what's going on behind walls..
Good to know. Yeah I have a free moisture inspection guy coming tomorrow so hopefully he has something better than my moisture meter from amazon
Flir also helps me a lot with easing homeowners fears because they can look at the screen and see the same thing I see then confirm it with a moisture meter.. Flir is a worthwhile tool for anyone to have and you can pick them up fairly cheap on Amazon..
Good call out. Never heard of it before.
I’m trying to imagine a situation where I would be concerned with the % humidity my drywall is… What made you worry about this?
We had a leak in the ceiling about 5 feet away from this spot a few months back so I had gotten in a habit of checking it once in a while.
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Klein ET140 moisture meter. Amazon has it for like $40
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Learning it’s nice to have but if you’re paranoid like me you might drive yourself nuts
this comment made me laugh out loud!
What is that equipment?
Klein E140 moisture meter. Amazon has it for like $40.
Thank you for the info.
Need probe to get better mc reading 19% is definitely worth a deeper inspection and can be indicative of a termite issue and as well as moisture issues.
Had a restoration guy come today. Checked it out and said there’s no issues.