if we can get a poll it would be a good thing!!!

how many of you tilers on here have a good quality moisture meter?

I thought you used the palm meter...

Originally Posted by Dave

I thought you used the palm meter...

i do.....it works to an extent!

You altered your reply again......

So what Palm i mean moisture meter do you use lee..


Personally i don't have one and have never had the need for one..

as i posted but my laptop died.....

plaster, bonding , sand and cement all need a drying time, a moisture metre solves these issues, however if you just tile you proberbly dont need one...you just have to trust the builder!

Originally Posted by dagger

as i posted but my laptop died.....

plaster, bonding , sand and cement all need a drying time, a moisture metre solves these issues, however if you just tile you proberbly dont need one...you just have to trust the builder!

piece of cling film is a lot cheaper.....the sweat test is fool proof..

Anyway back to the poll..



What Moisture meters do members use..?

Originally Posted by Dave

You altered your reply again......

So what Palm i mean moisture meter do you use lee..


Personally i don't have one and have never had the need for one..

and my post before i edited said something like " keeping quiet at the mo".... or words to that effect!

Originally Posted by Dave

piece of cling film is a lot cheaper.....the sweat test is fool proof..

so can you do the sweat test with your palm?.....

Originally Posted by Dave

piece of cling film is a lot cheaper.....the sweat test is fool proof..

protimetre....i think

Can you stand there with your palm covering the substrate all night ......wow clever..

Originally Posted by Dave

Can you stand there with your palm covering the substrate all night ......wow clever..

if you use a rapid slc like fibreplan, you will know its dry by the next day!

me and my palm are going home for a bevvy!!!!

tilers in todays enviroment, even if you do not sand and cement, latex, plaster or do any other prep as i do....should own a moisture detector!!

if someone "tells" you the screed had been down six weeks or the plaster has been there a month and is ready to tile.....how do you know?

it could be 22" thick....

next purchase people.....a mosture detector!

best wishes

Dagger!

Hair Hygrometer for me - oh and the good old poly bag test.

Never found the need for a moisture meter but the gypsum screeds may have use for one

Originally Posted by Ajax123

Hair Hygrometer for me - oh and the good old poly bag test.

all do the same job, but for a tiler...a basic moisture meter will suffice!

thanks Ajax!

Originally Posted by Ajax123

Hair Hygrometer

I still haven't got round to making my own yet, must do that one weekend for a laugh

Originally Posted by dagger

all do the same job, but for a tiler...a basic moisture meter will suffice!

thanks Ajax!

Negative Dagger.

Electronic conductivity meters will not give accurate results on an anhydrte screed. The problem being that they work on the basis of resistance/conductivity between two or more probes. This conductivity is affected by the presence of moisture and conductive salts in the surface of the screed. When you lay anhydrite screed, as it compacts itself it produces bleed water which in turn brings the finer particulates in the material to the surface. These are a mixture of calcium sulphate, silt, lime etc etc. the concentration of each of these will vary acording to lots and lots of variables. The level of salts at the surface will vary in concentration over the screed face so you will get variable results when measuring conductivity. This also gives rise to the myth that these screeds dry more unevenly across the surface than traditional screeds. Traditional screeds dry unevenly as well but in anhydrite it is more measurable.

I know at work we are trialling several different types of meters but unfortunately as yet we have been unable to draw a consisten correllation between the results obtained, the actual moisture and so at the moment I stick with relative humidity as the most accurate and incidentally coreect method in respect of the current British Standard.

In fact the British Standard for screeds and for resillient foor coverings says hair hygrometer.

Originally Posted by Colour Republic

I still haven't got round to making my own yet, must do that one weekend for a laugh

I'd have a go at making my own as well but sadly I don't have enough hair to spare.....

Originally Posted by Ajax123

I'd have a go at making my own as well but sadly I don't have enough hair to spare.....

I have a shaved head so me neither also I haven't got blond hair which I believe is required, can't remember why?

Ajax, you are a full time screeder, dealing with all types of screed (mainly pumped i guess), and no doubt the heir costs a fortune...

but a basic moisture tester for a tiler..... is a no?

Lee.

p.s i sand and cement, i have used topcem, i have self leveled....any thing else is a mystery!

Originally Posted by dagger

Ajax, you are a full time screeder, dealing with all types of screed (mainly pumped i guess), and no doubt the heir costs a fortune...

but a basic moisture tester for a tiler..... is a no?

Lee.

Only deal with anhydrite nowadays but have dealt with most types of screeds and concretes in my time. Even had a stint with refractories. Trouble is if you use the conductivity types on anhydrite they will give you generally high readings and that causes problems with delays often un necessarily.
Hair hygrometer kit last ime I bought one was about £90ish. In all honesty though m8 I usually recomend the poly bag test initially cos it tells you if its wet or dry. It just don't say how wet. I guess most of the jobs I get involved in are contract jobs where the main contractor tends to take responsibility for moisture testing and sub contracts it out.

Originally Posted by Ajax123

Only deal with anhydrite nowadays but have dealt with most types of screeds and concretes in my time. Even had a stint with refractories. Trouble is if you use the conductivity types on anhydrite they will give you generally high readings and that causes problems with delays often un necessarily.
Hair hygrometer kit last ime I bought one was about £90ish. In all honesty though m8 I usually recomend the poly bag test initially cos it tells you if its wet or dry. It just don't say how wet. I guess most of the jobs I get involved in are contract jobs where the main contractor tends to take responsibility for moisture testing and sub contracts it out.

anhydrite is the way to go for screeders because its easier and quicker, tilers generally dont understand any of this stuff....or plastering.....so they rely on the builder to tell them....and lets face it builders "just want to go home".

but that said you are working on sites where information is key!!! as most peeps on this website are working in peeps houses wanting to do it right with very little (if any) training....

its kinda tough.....

my dad showed me how to grout first, then how to plaster walls and then how to sand and cement (inc. eml) then he showed me how to tile......

10 yr apprentiship.......everything after that is eager learning curve!

according to my dad...plastering and screeding is a tilers job!

I completely agree with your dad that tilers and for that all flooring contractors ought to be doing substrates whether they be walls or floors cos that way you keep control over the whole thing and you can make sure the whole thing is right. Nothing worse in my opinion than coming on to a job and finding it has been prepared either wrongly or just badly. One of my stategies at the moment is to persuade screeders to take on floor finishes and vice versa. Had a few takers over the last couple of years and see very few problems where this happens. I also talking to some of the major addy and primer suppliers to make sure they have the knowledge to advise you guys properly. I also offer advice to tilers when they call me but sadly not many do until after things have gone wrong. Slowly but surely though that is changing.

the tiling/screeding world has changed, the key is to stay ontop...

eco prim t primer is an example.....primer g yesterday....eco prim t today...
the adhesive manafactures change thier mind on a monthly basis..

i provide a 10 year gaurentee on all work....

Best wishes

Lee..AKA Dagger!

I use a screeder i know if i need it dont use plasterers at all i just take it back and dry line it myself then i know its right

i do my own screeding and plastering......and use the palm test.....if its unsure i use a moisture tester!!!!.........

Lee.

I don't have one, never really thought about it either

might survive the rest of my working life without one, managed 30 or so years so far

Originally Posted by doug boardley

I don't have one, never really thought about it either

as i have already said.......if you are "a tiler" you dont need one, unless you are a tiler who needs to work quicker than the bag says "adhesive companys build in an extra time, for their gaurentee" or you dont trust the information given...or you just want to do it right.....even if it means after 75 days your 75mm sand and cement screed is not dry enough to tile on.....because its too cold in here...a moisture meter will tell.....