Klein Tools 80023P Tool Set, Home Inspector Tool Kit with Digital Moisture Meter, Non-Contact Voltage Tester, GFCI Outlet Tester, 3-Piece

I needed it to measure the moisture content of freshly cut lumber before I stained it.

Initially the item worked well assessing moisture content on a sailboat. Then it suddenly would only display an error message. This is clearly a cheap product that works well, most moisture meters run around $300-400, so assuming the next one works for a reasonable amount of time this will be a great value. We shall see.

If you want to know what the moisture content of your wood is this is not the correct tool. Its accuracy is +-4% so if it reads 8% on the meter your wood could be as high as 12% or as low as 4% and thats a substantial change. It also changes its measurement if your hand is near it or not. Just testing this I saw a reading of 7.1% on construction lumber (seems crazy low) go up to 8.9% if I put my entire hand over it. Thats a measurement increase of 25.3%! If you has position has the potential to swing your reading by 25% this doesnt seem like its even remotely accurate.

I bought this to look for moisture in vehicle carpets and headliners to shorten my diagnostic time finding electrical problems and water leaks. Paid for itself already on the first use by not having to lift all the carpet, but just the area that showed high moisture. Lifted the carpet and found water damaged wiring.

I have a chronic rain water problem in one exterior wall, it originates from either around a clerestory window or where the porch meets the wall. While I waited for the next rain storm, I thought I would see if this moisture meter works. I took a 1x2 foot piece of sheet rock and squirted about a third of the paper backing with water - not too much just enough to dampen it. After about an hour, I ran the meter over the plaster side around the area that I knew was dry and got a reading of 0% moisture; no surprise there. But as I moved to the dampened area, I got readings from 19 to 25 % moisture. The next day, I checked the sheet rock with a thermal imager and it indicated dampness around the edges and a couple of faint,I assumed ,damp spots - there was absolutely no visible or tactile moisture on either surfaces. I ran the Klein meter around the same areas, and the moisture meter showed positive in those identical spots. I was quite impressed. So, my conclusion is your sheet rock walls should be around 0%; this meter will indicate even the slightest bit of residual moisture.

I bought this to measure the moisture content of wood, specifically hardwood. So, every time I use it, I turn it on, then hit the mode button a few times to get to hardwood, then I can measure what I want. (Unless I forget, in which case I usually notice that the number is very different from what I expected.)

great product very rugged.

I had a plumbing leak behind my wall, and this thing was useless. On visibly wet sections, it gave me lower moisture readings than on sections that I later found to be unaffected by the leak (i.e., 3 feet above the leak location). I immediately returned it for a refund.

I’m a contractor & I use this often for floor, Works great I really like it.

liked simply lay on wood, get a read out, no probing