Moisture meters

When it comes to tools of the trade for water damage mitigation and restoration, is preference for standard equipment such as moisture meters anything more than opinion? We stumbled across this video which ranks the ten best moisture meters of 2016. Take a peek and tell us what you think.  

Moisture Meters Reviewed In This Wiki:
Sonin 50211
General Tools & Instruments MMD7NP
Dr.Meter® MD912
Mudder WM-01
Protimeter BLD5765
Amprobe MT-10
Lignomat Mini-Ligno
Extech MO257
General Tools & Instruments MMD4E
Wagner MMC220

To the credit of the creators of this video, they go back to some of the classics such as Sonin & Wagner as well as the more cost friendly options such as the General Tools & Instruments that are available at major retailers like Lowes. The only meter on this list that I have seen frequently in the field for water damage mitigation and property restoration contractors would be the Protimeter, even those the creators of this video opted for the non-penetrating version. 

Protimeter moisture meter

I can remember my first moisture meter, it was the Protimeter Surveymaster and I was so proud to have the option of both penetrating or non-penetrating moisture detection through this compact yellow tool. This tool in the early 2000's brought those two modes of structural moisture reading into one tool, no longer was there a need for two separate instruments. Compact moisture meters with modern technology provide the property restoration professional with multi-purpose emergency response tools. 

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Delmhorst tools

Years later I went to work for another national company that had an exclusive with a model of meter designed by Delmhorst that they were rather fond of. We had the more modern handheld devices from this vendor, but I have seen so many more of the older models used and sworn by industry professionals including industrial hygienists and wood floor specialists. The Delmhorst that we used had a non-penetrating sensor, penetrating probes at the top of the instrument and had a hygrometer stick attachment that enabled readings for relative humidity as well as ambient temperature, an all-in-one tool for the water damage mitigation professional. 

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FLIR all-in-one moisture meter & IR imaging

In the good old days, there was a separate moisture meter for everything. In these golden years where technology has combined resources and the market has brought pricing into more reasonable values. One of the funnest tools available is the Flir MR176 Imaging Moisture Meter which literally provides the Swiss Army Knife of water damage mitigation response tools. These instruments provide non-penetrating readings through a sensor on the rear of the unit, penetrating moisture readings through a pin attachment, ambient readings through an attached hygrometer sensor and a thermal imaging camera all in the same tool. 

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