moisture meters ad infinitum

[Chad Fabry]

I know this has been the topic of conversation before but things change with technology.

I've owned and used a Surveymaster for some years now. Unfortunately, I left it at an owner occupied home that was, well, target rich. The current owners subscribe to a "shoot the messenger mentality". So, now I'm in the market for a new moisture meter. Net profit on that job, zero dollars.

I liked the Surveymaster but if anyone prefers another brand, I would appreciate the input.

[Brad Manor]

Chad,

I find myself in a similar situation. I saw that Tool Experts are selling the Surveymaster for about 400 bucks. With the way the Canadian dollar is right now I should be able to pick one up for about 385.... Seems like a pretty good deal.

-Brad

[member deleted]

I use a Protimeter http://www.inspectortools.com/neaqbypr.html

Works very well

Kevin

[Inspectorjoe]

I also left one in a house last week. It was a rental house. After using it, the buyers were blocking my path to my bag. "Don't set it down on the counter", I told myself. I set it down on the counter. I thought of it as I was driving away, but didn't have time to go back. I called the tenants and left a message, telling them exactly where I left it and asked that they call back. No call, and subsequent calls from me went unanswered.

I've always been satisfied with the Wagner L606. It only "reads" to 3/4 inch, but that's the only downside I can think of when comparing it to the more expensive units. I've had two (left the first one in a house too), and the only problem has been the indicator needle popping out of the bezel after being dropped, but that's a relatively easy fix.

Amazon.com no longer carries the analog L606, but I got a great buy on a digital MMC220, at $229. Tuesday, the price went to $249, but I think that's still a bit cheaper than the L606 was.

Being digital, I won't have to worry about the needle popping out of the bezel, but I am going to miss saying to the buyer, "look, it's peggin' the meter!"

Wagner MMC220

[Chris Bernhardt]

I use a Tramex moisture encounter plus but I see a need for the smaller compactness of the surveymaster. The Tramex scans deeper and is faster at scanning larger areas but the surveymaster can fit into smaller areas and much more practical to go with you into attics and crawlspaces.

When spring returns I'm adding a surveymaster to my repertoire. In other words I recommend having both.

Chris, Oregon

[homnspector]

I think in both cases I would be after the RE agent to get my tool back. Let them know it is a $400 tool and you don't take theft lightly. If you had dropped your wallet and they kept that would it be OK? If it's like my wallet it's worth way less than a moisture meter.

The other option is you can try to get it back by bidding on it on e-bay.

[kurt]

SM w/the deep probes, & those really cool needle probes for EIFS.

It's still the best tool, outside of IR.