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I finally saw why everyone recommends a moisture meter for old plaster
I went to help my cousin patch a wall in his 1920s row house in Baltimore last weekend. He had spackled this spot three times and it kept bubbling up, so I figured the issue was trapped water behind the plaster. I brought my cheap 20 dollar pin type moisture meter and sure enough, that area read way higher than the rest of the wall. Turned out a pipe in the wall had a slow drip for months, not even enough to stain anything noticeable. We ended up cutting out a foot of plaster to fix the line and now I get why people push the meter so hard. Without it we would have kept painting over a hidden leak for another year. Has anyone else caught a sneaky issue this way, or do you just trust your eyes and hands?
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elliotw3720d ago
Caught a whole wall of water damage in my basement that looked totally fine from the outside. The meter showed wet spots behind the drywall where the foundation had a crack. Saved myself from a mold problem that would've been way worse by spring. My buddy still laughs at me for carrying it around but he stopped after his bathroom ceiling started peeling. Honestly, ten minutes with that thing beats guessing every time.
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