Low Moisture Content Reading on 3/4" oak

[clarkerb]

I am acclimating 700 sq ft of 3/4" oak flooring in a house at approximately 76 degrees F and 55 humidity.
Not sure my meter is accurate but it is giving me MC of 4% or so for wood flooring after about 4 days out of box and stacked and spaced.
Subfloor is at 6% so I am OK regarding being within 2% subfloor and oak flooring.

What is stumping me is that every chart I see says the MC should be around 8 or 9 in my region (Missouri)
I don't know if if this wood or even the subfloor will ever get that high.

Since I am within the 2% range on subfloor and new flooring is it OK to start installing??

 

[C.J.]

Whenever I get reading that make me scratch my head I put a new battery in the meter just to rule that out. Secondly is I check to make sure my meter is on the correct setting.

What kind of moisture meter are you using? Are you driving the pins in to get a more accurate reading?

 

[clarkerb]

Thanks.

I have 2 inexpensive meters. One is a Klein ET140 pinless. Other is Harbor Freight Pinned.
I am not a pro so was hoping to get by without spending much on a one use meter.
I think the pinned meter is simply not registering below 6. It works on the subfloor and odds and ends pieces of wood...will not pick up the oak reading.

Here is something very interesting. Using pinless meter on 20 year old hardwood in an adjacent hallway I get a reading of 4.5. So I seem to be "in the ballpark" (new oak flooring is 4.0 using pinless) Even though my meter may be off it seems to be consistently off and I have never had any issues with the oak flooring in the hallway.

 

[C.J.]

The only thing that concerns me is that your new wood reads 4.0 and your existing wood reads 4.5. That means your new wood will expand as it acclimates to 4.5. Maybe wait a few days. They say your wood is acclimated if you don’t notice any MC changes in maybe 3,4 or 5 days. Maybe a few more days rest then you can safely install it.

 

[clarkerb]

Good call. I had not read that about 3-5 days of stable readings. Makes sense. Definitely worth a few days to confirm. Going to record a bunch of readings today on painters tape.