The Best Moisture Meters for Any Material

For those working from home and lining up DIY projects left and right, we’ve come up with some of the best moisture meters with professional-level features. Water damage is the first sign of mold infestation. Thus, untreated high levels of moisture can breed harmful growth of mold into your house or projects. You want to make sure to always have a moisture meter on hand whenever you’re working with wood.

Searching for the Right Moisture Meter

Home and building inspectors use an impressive tool called a moisture meter to inspect the moisture content in materials such as drywall and wood, but this device can be bought by anyone and is readily available if you know what to look for. You should consider these important factors when searching for the right meter:

• Accuracy: Moisture meters vary in accuracy and cost. The more high-end meters that are used by professionals should be accurate to within 0.1%. An alternative option is cheaper moisture meters that are accurate to within 5%. This is still a reasonable accuracy setting if you’re looking to use your device for at-home projects.
• Durability: If you’re a professional looking for a moisture reader then durability is a big factor because you don’t want your meter to get damaged throughout regular use.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the best moisture meters!

Best Overall: General Tools Digital Moisture Meter

This moisture meter is from General Tools and it uses pins to get a more accurate reading. It comes at an affordable price and features a large LCD display for quick and easy viewing. This meter has a hold function to freeze a reading, an auto power-off button, and a low battery indicator. It’s a great reader to determine the moisture content of wood and other building materials and its stainless steel pins come with a protective cap that doubles as a calibration checker.

Best for Wood: Tavool Wood Moisture Meter

This moisture meter is ideal for wood and other hard surfaces. From the people at Tavool, this meter is designed with two high-precision pins, giving you a quick and accurate moisture level. It’s especially a great tool for flooring installers and inspectors. Much like other meters on this list, it comes with a large, backlit LCD display with a hold function. It’s also lightweight, easy to use, and there are rubber side grips so it’s easy to carry as well.

Best Pinless: General Tools Pinless Moisture Meter

For a more non-invasive design and one without pins, we recommend this moisture reader. Another quality product from General Tools, this pinless meter reads moisture levels up to 0.75 inches deep into the surface and can detect the source of the leak using the tricolor LED moisture indicator. It’s also an ideal purchase for those looking to save their walls and projects from pinholes, scuffing, and scratching.

Best for Plants: XLUX Soil Moisture Meter

This little gadget comes in black or green. It is affordable and accurate enough for those looking for a moisture meter for plants. It works for indoor and outdoor plants and has a sensing probe to ensure accurate and instant testing results. The large, clear dial includes ten scales reading from dry to wet. The single probe doesn’t hurt the roots and you don’t have to dig up too much soil for it to get accurate readings. This device is designed to test soil only.

Also Great: Calculated Industries Pin & Pinless Moisture Meter

Another great moisture meter you should consider is this pin-and-pinless meter from Calculated Industries. It comes in two different styles and can be purchased with a thermometer and receptacle tester amongst other things. This device is unique because it includes the functions of pin-and-pinless sensors in one package.