Best Moisture Meters

What struck us most about the Tramex moisture meter is its wide measurement range capabilities that make it applicable to many building materials such as wood, plaster, tiles, bricks and plasterboard. Such a wide scope of application enables its versatile use in many spheres beside woodworking. The Tramex moisture meter can easily detect moist areas on a wall for you to prevent mold and fungi appearance. The measurement depth makes 1 1/4  allowing for spotting problem places with higher accuracy even if they aren’t displayed. We also liked simple and user-friendly controls. There are only three buttons on a device marked with the functions they are to perform. The first button activates the device, the second provides the option to choose the material and measurement metrics while the third one holds the readings after removal. Another small but nice addition to the Tramex moisture meter is a flashlight, using which can help you in various situations when working in dim lightning.

The Dr.Meter MD918 is a pinless moisture meter that offers several obvious advantages over pin alternatives. Because it doesn’t make any holes on a surface, it can be applicable to quite expensive materials even if you took it to test wood in the shop. Secondly, it scans moisture content pretty fast and in a simple way - you only need to get it in close contact with the tested material and it will instantly show the readings on a display without being actually inserted into the wood. The third advantage of the Dr.Meter MD918 is it can be configured to tell whether this or that lumber is going to suit your project according to the set minimum and maximum parameters. All things considered, we'd definitely recommend the Dr.Meter MD918 to all furniture makers for whom stable wood is not only a must but the only condition of quality work. Damp wood can ruin your project, yet, not only this. Too humid workshop is hardly a favorable environment for wood storage too. Therefore, if you haven't got an indoor humidity monitor yet, make sure to get one and store your lumber in a proper way.

The General Tools TS06 moisture meter is an upgraded device with some pretty advanced features. Unlike the majority of similar tools, this one features Bluetooth port for quick pairing with Bluetooth-enabled gadgets and storing all readings in the app (download it for Android or iOS). Having got several test results, you’d be able to make analysis of humidity change and wood quality which is a convenient option for furniture makers storing tons of wood to use in the future projects. Another thing we find convenient about Bluetooth function is an option to use your smartphone as an auxiliary screen. This may come in handy in the projects where several contractors are involved. Besides upgraded technologies, the General Tools TS06 moisture meter performs basic functions pretty well too and can be used to measure moisture content not only of building materials but also different species of wood. The only downside is that it might leave some visible markings on the surface if inserted into wood too hard. 

The Extent MO50 is a decent-quality pin moisture meter applicable to both various species of wood and building materials. According to many customers’ feedback and our own testing, the measurement probe here is rather solid and can withstand rather close contact with many rigid surfaces that if made of a different material would simply break. We also praised manufacturer’s solution of readouts displaying which besides digital figures are also shown in a form of drops icons. Depending on the measurement content of the lumber you may see from 1 to 3 drops on a screen. The sound signal also changes with the rise or drop of the moisture content so there's no chance you may skip a critical value and grab too wet or too dry piece of wood. All the mentioned features make the Extech MO50 a very handy device for multifunctional use. The only thing you may want to think about in advance is getting some spare batteries to keep the meter functioning properly without failures.

What makes the given Risepro MT10 moisture meter distinguishing is that it’s suitable for testing all wood species, determining wood suitably with the exact accuracy. You don’t need to worry about looking up in a manual or somewhere else searching the wood density. All wood species are classified here in four separate groups so you can choose the needed one depending on the material you currently work with. The Risepro MT10 boasts one more feature worth a special attention too. Compared to many other moisture meters with the measurement range of 5-30% or 5-50%, this one allows determining the moisture content with the maximum precision within a wider range at 0-99.99%. Isn’t it impressive thinking about it? The beauty about this device is that instead of the approximate readings it provides pinpoint accuracy results. Some other thing you may need to use when storing wood species is a good thermometer. Knowing surrounding environment conditions can help avoid a lot of tiresome hash-ups.