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Using your moisture meter

How to check walls and floors with the meter that comes with your rental.

Your dehumidifier and air mover rental comes with a free moisture meter, on loan. It tells you what your hands can't: whether the water inside the wall or floor is really gone. Bring it back with the equipment.

The one rule: compare with a dry spot

A meter number means little on its own; every material reads differently. So first take a dry reading: the same material in a room that didn't get wet (a wall in the hallway, the floor in a dry bedroom). Write it down. Then check the wet area. It's dry when it reads about the same as your dry spot. Check the same spots every day and write the numbers down; they should drop.

Drywall and walls

  • Test along the bottom of the wall, about 2 inches up from the floor, every couple of feet. Water wicks up, so also test 12 and 24 inches up.
  • Push the pins in gently, or hold the flat back of the meter flat against the wall if it has no pins.
  • Test behind the baseboard if you can pull it off; that's where water hides.

Wood floors and subfloors

  • Set the meter to the wood setting if it has one.
  • Test in the middle of a board, not on the seam. Test several boards across the room.
  • Wood dries slowly. Don't stop until it reads close to your dry spot and the boards lie flat.

Carpet and pad

  • The meter can't read through carpet well. Pull back a corner and test the pad and the floor under it.
  • If the pad is soaked, it usually has to come out: carpet dries, pad rarely does.

Concrete (basements)

  • Use the concrete setting if there is one, and compare with a dry part of the same slab.
  • Concrete holds water a long time. Keep the dehumidifier running until it matches the dry spot.

When to call us

  • Numbers aren't dropping after 2 or 3 days.
  • It reads wet in a spot you didn't expect (higher up the wall, a room away): there may be a leak still going.
  • It smells musty, or you see spots. Call the store and we'll help you figure it out.
Questions? Call the store. We're happy to help you set up.

More guides

Using your dehumidifierPulls water out of the air so wet floors, walls and furniture can dry. Using your air moversBlow air across wet carpet and walls so water evaporates in days, not weeks. Using your air scrubberA HEPA filter that cleans dust, mold spores, odor and bacteria out of the air. Using your carpet extractorPulls standing water out of carpet and pad before you start drying. Common questionsHow long to keep it, how it works, and how to tell it's dry. Drying wet carpetThe order that works: extract, check the pad, then air movers and a dehumidifier.