Adhesives and Moisture

[CC Solutions]

Great Question!!

The Tramex CRH meter is also an electrical impedance meter, which is how you are using it when you place it on the slab and read the number 6.

Many times I have watched a flooring installer place an EI meter on a failing floor and tell me "It's 5, that's too high!"

I always ask, "5 what?" Invariably the answer is "I don't know but 5 is too much".

And that is the big question.... What does it read? The EI meter reads the conduction of electricity through the slab. More water in the concrete will conduct electricity easier, and the reading should be higher. But the conductivity is also influenced by aggregate type, density, steel location, even mix water chemistry.

It is a rough guesstimate of slab moisture in the top horizon of the slab. I will use an EI meter to check around the slab to see if there are hot spots getting high readings, and place some of my Rapid RH probes in those areas. But I always sprinkle probes around to get a good overall picture of the true slab moisture potential.