Details

Concrete floors must be dry, clean, smooth, and structurally sound before flooring is applied. The slab moisture is important because moisture from concrete floor slabs can damage textile floor coverings and coatings, cause de-bonding and deterioration, and can lead to microbial growth. Therefore, manufacturers of floor coverings usually require moisture testing before installation on concrete slabs.

Specifications such as ASTM F 710 provide guidelines for preparation and characterization of concrete slabs. This specification states that the slab must be dry, as determined by an appropriate test such as ASTM F 2170 (internal slab humidity), and that the relative humidity in the slab must be below 75% before flooring is applied. The internal relative humidity is important because it is indicative of the equilibrium conditions that are likely to follow after flooring is applied.

Intelli-rock Humidity Loggers

The intelli-rock humidity logger is designed around ASTM F 2170 specifically for concrete moisture determination prior to applying floor coverings (sensor placement in hardened concrete). The drill-in-place flooring RH logger is designed to be placed in concrete that is already curing. Simply drill a hole and set a plastic sleeve to a specified depth as described in ASTM F 2170. The logger can then be used to measure and record the internal humidity of concrete placements in a single position, or moved to multiple locations for monitoring large areas.

Cost Analysis

For a typical floor slab moisture reading would be taken in six areas. Hence for the first floor slab the capital outlay would be for a reader and six probes =$9500 ex GST These probes will be reusable for the next 25 jobs so there is no further cost. Hence cost /job becomes $380 ex GST. Thereafter a further only the six probes will be required for the next 25 jobs, meaning the cost per job drops to $208 ex GST for all subsequent jobs after the first 25. As flooring contractors will have various jobs going at the same time we recommend the kit with 25 probes be purchased at a cost of $25105 ex GST. This will ultimately cover 104 jobs i.e. cost per job is $241 ex GST

Remembering that this is also paying off the reader and all jobs subsequent will drop to $208 ex GST). Total savings would therefore be $1000 ex GST. This is something the contractor can easily do himself and avoids the need for an engineer to visit the site at intervals. Where an Engineer assessment is required the data from the probes can all be downloaded into secure data files and emailed to the engineer.