The difference a proper moisture meter made on my deck rebuild

I rebuilt a 20 foot cedar deck last month and the wood was delivered at 19% moisture. My old boss always said 'just let it sit for a week' but I bought a pinless meter for this job. After three days in the sun, the reading dropped to 14%, so I went ahead and started cutting and fastening. The deck has been solid for a month now with zero gaps or warping, which never happened on my old 'guess and check' projects. What's your go-to method for checking wood moisture before a big outdoor build?

3 comments

3 Comments

ben4862mo ago

That "just let it sit for a week" advice is so common but it really is just guessing. I'm curious, what made you finally decide to buy a pinless meter for this project instead of just going with the old rule? Was there a past job where the guessing went wrong?

claireo672mo agoMost Upvoted

Guessing never cost me a job, but that meter saved my butt on a basement remodel last fall.

riley_coleman83d ago

@claireo67 I learned that lesson the hard way on a drywall job in '19.