Moisture Meter

[Burroman]

One of the flaws in our older fiberglass trailer is the wooden floor.
Some were made of particle board, some plywood.
When purchasing a used Burro/Scamp/trillium, or any of the older trailers with wooden floors a moisture meter that reads to a 3/4” depth, without pin probes would be handy to borrow,rent or buy.
These floors are lots of work to change($$$$$) and floor data would figure into the price.
It’s one of the major aspects that’s not evident with a visual inspection.
We think, “ Fiberglas, what could go wrong?”, but forget about the wooden floor!
At least I did, and found some difficult repairs to make a year or so later.
These trailers are still worth it and wonderful, but if you lack the skill or desire to repair a floor and want to have it done,being able to figure that into the price is good for your piece of mind.

[Jon in AZ]

Depending on the make and model, some floors can be inspected directly inside cabinets around the perimeter of the shell where leaks and rot are likeliest. Look for discoloration, smell for mildew, tap and probe for softness. I agree it is one of the most critical parts of the pre-purchase inspection. I am always just a bit suspicious of brand-new finish flooring.

I’ve never used a moisture meter. Would it be able to detect moisture in the core of floors that are fully encapsulated in fiberglass? Those are less susceptible, but they are also the hardest to inspect and trickiest to repair.

[Burroman]

I watched the latest video of Slim Potato head, after his trip to the Arctic with his used Trillium trailer.
It was very enlightening.
Yes, he was holding it on the fiberglass layer above the floor and could read moisture below to a depth of 3/4”.
Looked pretty informative to me.

[gordon2]

Here is a 43 second video of me using a meter to check the wood in the Scamp today. For comparison, the wood in my garage is just a hair under 10%. We had literally two inches of rain here yesterday. Current relative humidity is 87%.
https://youtu.be/8Zkr1oJn-vg