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Moisture meters?

plainpainter

New member
Anyone ever bought one of those gadgets? I think I have used mine a total of 4 times before it got relegated to collecting dust. Sure there was a gradation of % of wood moisture - but it seemed when wood dried for a couple of sunny days and felt dry to my hands - the moisture meter didn't register anything. And when wood felt moist to my hands - the moisture meter said it was moist.

It basically didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. Not to mention when I first started in the painting trades I was taught by these old geysers to use boiled linseed oil along with turpentine to chase the moisture out of wood and it always worked.

I painted my sisters house once and one of her window sills on the inside was soaking wet from condensation dribbling down. I used a quick dry oil primer directly on this soaking wood - and an hour later there was a puddle of water that got pushed up to the surface and was sitting on top of the primer - I padded it dry with paper towels - leaving the primer intact.

Three days later the window sill felt bone dry to my hands - and I put a couple coats of latex paint - and it's been 5 years and still looks perfect.

I think we way over think moisture levels sometimes. If the deck has had couple of dry days, feels dry - it's ready to go.
 

Ken Fenner

Active member
Its in the box with the X-Jet, next to the yellow extension wand laying next to the shelf that has the curved gutter cleaning attachment.
 

plainpainter

New member
I have a confession Ken - I am contemplating using my extend-a-wand to rinse off the outside part of this deck's railing/balusters I am about to strip - as the deck is 12 feet off the ground.
 

Ken Fenner

Active member
Dan, do you have one of these?
 

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plainpainter

New member
Dan, 6 ft lance. A must for all woodies. Still might fall a little short if your deck's working height is 12'-15'

It looks to have a bend near the top? Do you find that useful as opposed to a perfectly straight lance? I got one of those McCauley's sprayflex attachment from Bob last year - I may just lean over the edge and rinse the outside with that device - pita, but will get the job done without buying anything else.
 

Ken Fenner

Active member
It looks to have a bend near the top? Do you find that useful as opposed to a perfectly straight lance? I got one of those McCauley's sprayflex attachment from Bob last year - I may just lean over the edge and rinse the outside with that device - pita, but will get the job done without buying anything else.


Yes. A perfectly straight lance would spray at the sky. I can hold a six foot lance and spray with one hand over my shoulders. This gives me a working height of about 12'.
 

Henry Bockman

New member
We have a few of the delmhurst moisture meters and we do use them, if nothing else, just for show. They work well for tracking roof leaks also.

I have a couple of extenda wands and we barely ever use them but when you need one, it's great to have! I've set one up so I can convert it over to staining with my Deckster when we stain houses. The gutter thing I used for doing a part of a facade while standing on the roof 75' up. <G>

The flexible wand thing, we have a couple of those and use them for strange things also. Of course we use our x jets and downstreamers every day.

Honestly, I think theres only a couple things I've bought that I didn't like. The pitch witch is one, it flips over too easy. But, we do use it, just rarely. I prefer my mosmatic roof cleaner much more.

My reclaim surface cleaner, I've only used it three times in the last year but without it, I'd have been screwed, or just unable to do the job. Having it allowed me to take on some jobs no one else could touch and they more than paid for the reclaim equipment.

My latest purchase was a maxima surface cleaner, 36" path for $850.00 This thing kicks but with an 8gpm machine, by far the best surface cleaner I've used in years. (Note: I don't use one very often)
 

Rick Petry

New member
We have a few of the delmhurst moisture meters and we do use them, if nothing else, just for show. They work well for tracking roof leaks also. ...

Henry,

Just for show is good, and I also put moisture reading service in the estimate. Adds a professional touch. But we use our Delmhorsts on nearly every job. I'll leave one for the customer to take a reading if the weather looks "iffy". Has saved many a wasted trip.

The most value of using meters, many times when you think the wood is not dry enough, the meter will tell you it is ready to be stained.
 

Mathew Johnson

New member
I agree with Henry...

We use it as a marketing tool over our to competition. Customer's seem to like "technology" and it's application. We pitch it its use to the customer and tell them that we make to make sure the wood is in optimal condition before the stain is applied to give them the best finish possible.

We also encourage them to ask the other contractors at what wood moisture content they apply the stain and how they check it. One customer called me back to tell me that the other powerwashing company didn't know anything about moisture content and that I was 337.00 higher on my bid. They said it was worth the money to pay for someone who knows what they are doing. Got the Job!!!

I do agree with one of UAMCC Member Tambasco's points.... I have never been surprised by the reading on the moisture meter.... If I thought the wood was dry, the meter agreed, same if I thought it was to moist.

It is all about customer perception and getting them to use you over the competition.

Here is a marketing question? Who has asked a friend or family member to have one of your competitors or a newly formed powerwashing company to come out and give them an estimate their deck or house wash. This is a great way to compare your company with the others, identify your strong points compared to them and use them to your advantage to land the job.

It also allows you to identify your weaknesses and make changes to business operations and improve your closure rate. The one thing we have found is that we are 20-25 percent higher on most quotes than others in our area so we have to pitch the proposal to sell why we are a better company.
 

Mathew Johnson

New member
Honestly, I think theres only a couple things I've bought that I didn't like. The pitch witch is one, it flips over too easy. But, we do use it, just rarely. I prefer my mosmatic roof cleaner much more.

I just bought a like new 48 foot coress and a pitch witch from a contractor that is going out of business. We used it last week and the first two times up the roof it flipped over. We changed the quick connects over to 22mm connectors and it worked flawlessly for the rest of the project. We are going change the tips out before the next job to drop the pressure just a little before the next roof job. With the machine I am using, the pressure was just a little more than I thought was needed.

We also added a filter to it.
 
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