what is your guys's take on a cheap $25 wood moisture meter for a 1 time use by a diy'er. are they accurate,but cheaply made and not meant to last?

Or are they not accurate and of no use at all?

zim

How critical is it for the meter to have settings for species? Yes, a MM is a small part of the overall cost, but I have no reason to believe there is a problem to start with, just want to cover all bases. Installing Brazillian Angico 3/4 over Advantech flooring on the second level of a townhouse, RH is 47. Can I spend 30 bucks and get peace of mind or would I be better off saving it for beer?

From BR-111: "A variety moisture meter would actually not give you an accurate reading on the flooring."

Where is a good place to get one anyways?

Will something like this work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Wood-Moistu ... dZViewItem

Or does it have to be in the $80-$100+ range?

Amazon has a bunch too. Not sure what I really need.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_0/1 ... n%3A553270

That 20+ dollar one on Ebay said it will work in the 5 to 40% range. That's certainly good enough for wood flooring. And it said it was accurate within +/- 1%. That seems ok too as long as you keep that in mind. In otherwords, let's say you moisture test your subfloor with that $20 meter and it says 10% MC. So, + or - 1% could mean it could be either 9, 10 or 11 % moisture content. And suppose your wood flooring reads 8%, then that could mean it's either 7, 8 or 9 % MC. So if the meter was off 1% in the subfloor test on the high end (meaning it was really 11% but read 10 ) and the flooring was off 1% on the low end (meaning it was really 7% but said 8 ), then on a plank floor, that may be a problem. However, if it was a strip floor, then you would be in the range of acceptable. So, bottom line, if you can get the subfloor and the wood floor readings as close as possible to being the same, then the less chance of error and failure with that inexpensive moisture meter.

Does anyone have tips on actually USING the moisture meter? I can't get the pins far enough into the wood to take a reading.

The instructions say to get the pins 5mm into the wood, but I'm having trouble getting them even half of that.

Help!

Thanks Gary. I have 3/4" solid maple, and I think I read that needs to be within 2%; so it may be a better choice to invest in a higher quality meter you think?

Amazon.com only has 92 to choose from.