After the flood, after the flood damaged materials are out on the street, there is time to gather your thoughts and get the building dry before rebuilding.
Dry means less than 15% moisture content of the wood. Building materials will equalize moisture content with the amount of moisture in the air. The higher the relative humidity the higher the equilibrium moisture content.
Your home will dry out faster if the doors and windows are closed and the air conditioning is on.
To speed the drying mechanical ventilation and dehumidification is necessary. A portable mechanical dehumidifier will help with this.
Raised Floors
If your home is raised off the ground, a raised floor, it is important to have removed all of the floor coverings that would keep the floor from drying: carpet, tile, vinyl and laminate flooring.
It is important to know how many layers there are in your raised floor. There will be a finished floor with tile, laminate, carpet or real wood. On raised floors, depending on when your home was built there may be a subfloor made of 1x6 laid diagonally or straight over the floor joists. Newer homes will have plywood or OSB (oriented strand board) over the floor joists. It is important all of the materials in your floor are allowed to dry below the 15% moisture content level.
This can be checked using a moisture meter, either a pin or pinnless one:
The next image is a pin moisture meter, it takes moisture readings by inserting the two pins into the wood and is calibrated to read moisture content of the wood at the depth of the pins.
The meter below is pinless and takes moisture readings by placing the back of the meter on the wood or other building material. The Accuscan pinless meter is capable of taking moisture content readings approximately 3/4" into the material.
On concrete slabs the drying and testing process is a bit different. Since the concert is in direct contact with the ground it may take the concrete longer to dry. It will continue to dry or put off moisture until the concrete moisture content is equal to the moisture in the air.
One simple way to test the "dryness" of concrete is to place a piece of 6 mil poly (Visqueen) 24 inches square on the concrete and tape the edges. Leave it overnight or longer and check to see if moisture has accumulated underneath. If moisture does appear the concrete is still drying and needs more time to equalize with the interior air.
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