Environmental quality training
Humidity in buildings and health
Moisture measurement
Structure moisture
Measuring moisture in a screed or a wall before painting or installing any floor coating will guarantee the quality of work.
Peeled walls? Unstuck textile floors? Excess moisture in a structure causes a lot of damage.
Causes of moisture of structures
In the building business, most of the disasters relating to finishing are due to excessive moisture in the substrate (overlaying, panels, fabric) or in the support base (concrete, wall, floor). Moisture comes mainly from:
- Residual water after preparing the material (plaster, concrete, cement, etc…). This is due mainly to very tight implementation times, which don’t leave adequate time for drying properly.
- Migrating or rising damp. This usually happens in old buildings, where water from the underlying soil seeps into the walls.
- Leaks in the plumbing system or drainage.
- Seal defects in the walls or roofing.
- Flooding.
In all cases, installation of floor coatings (tiles, carpets, floor boards, resin or plastic flooring) or wall coatings (paint, wallpaper or fabric), must be preceded by internal relative humidity test.
Floor moisture testing
Ambient humidity and temperature of the floor slab must be such that leaves no condensation in the structre: the temperature of the floor slab must be higher than the dew point.
Monitoring a structure means being able to identify its quality and, most importantly, its moisture content. It allows the person installing the floorboards, carpet or tiles or applying the resin or paint to commit herself.
Some standards aim to standardise and formalise expertise before the installation of a floor covering or coating. Follow some examples.
- The NF DTU 53.2 –PVC resilient floor coverings- and NF DTU 54.1 –resin floor coverings- states the dryness of any structure must not exceed the Equilibrium Relative Humidity (ERH) of 85% for PVC floor coverings (NF DTU 53.2) and 80% for resin floor coatings (NF DTU 54.1).
- The ASTM F 2170-02 is the US Standard Test Method for Determining Relative Humidity in Concrete Floor Slabs Using in situ Probe.
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Causes of moisture of structures
In the building business, most of the disasters relating to finishing are due to excessive moisture in the substrate (overlaying, panels, fabric) or in the support base (concrete, wall, floor). Moisture comes mainly from:- Residual water after preparing the material (plaster, concrete, cement, etc…). This is due mainly to very tight implementation times, which don’t leave adequate time for drying properly.
- Migrating or rising damp. This usually happens in old buildings, where water from the underlying soil seeps into the walls.
- Leaks in the plumbing system or drainage.
- Seal defects in the walls or roofing.
- Flooding.
In all cases, installation of floor coatings (tiles, carpets, floor boards, resin or plastic flooring) or wall coatings (paint, wallpaper or fabric), must be preceded by internal relative humidity test.
Floor moisture testing
Ambient humidity and temperature of the floor slab must be such that leaves no condensation in the structre: the temperature of the floor slab must be higher than the dew point.Monitoring a structure means being able to identify its quality and, most importantly, its moisture content. It allows the person installing the floorboards, carpet or tiles or applying the resin or paint to commit herself.
Some standards aim to standardise and formalise expertise before the installation of a floor covering or coating. Follow some examples.
- The NF DTU 53.2 –PVC resilient floor coverings- and NF DTU 54.1 –resin floor coverings- states the dryness of any structure must not exceed the Equilibrium Relative Humidity (ERH) of 85% for PVC floor coverings (NF DTU 53.2) and 80% for resin floor coatings (NF DTU 54.1).
- The ASTM F 2170-02 is the US Standard Test Method for Determining Relative Humidity in Concrete Floor Slabs Using in situ Probe.
Recommanded products
Humitest MMS
This moisture meter and thermo-hygrometer allows to measure humidity, ambient temperature, dew point and thermal bridges as well as the moisture
content of materials (on the surface and in depth).
Testimonials
“International moisture test method”
"Excess moisture in substrates, main cause of pathologies"
"Measuring moisture content, one of the 7 main criteria"
Did you know?
Moisture is dangerous even before it becomes visible
Peeling or blistering paint, halos on the ceiling, stained walls, unstuck carpet or paint are all signs of excessive moisture.