Moisture content of floors and tiling/laying wood

annieb1981

Hi All,
Can anyone advise on the moisture content of newly poured floors? We have been advised to allow a month per inch to dry and since they are 4inches that means 4months which would make it Christmas time for us (floors were due to be poured months ago but weren't, that's a different story though!). I know it could be a bit more or a bit less, but does anyone know the recommended % before tiling or laying solid wood floors? We are prepared to wait as long as it takes as we don't want to have to be out the expense of pulling floors up down the line but we are tracking the moisture content and would be good to know how much further!

Thanks in advance!

FreeBear

Four months sounds about right. You might be able to speed the process up by running a dehumidifier and heat the room, however, there is a risk of cracks forming if too much heat is used.

Tiling will trap the moisture within the slab, so should be left as long as possible. With a wood floor, you will need to put down a damp proof membrane, but not on top of wet concrete. If you put down timber flooring without the DPM, the wood will probably bow & buckle like crazy - If it is an engineered flooring, delaminate and/or turn to mush. I'd suggest putting some cheap rugs down for the time being, just to limit the amount of dust you'd pick up on your feet.

southcoastrgi

You have really answered your own question, I'd do as FB suggested & get some rugs & do the floor in the new year

annieb1981

I suppose what I was looking for was a recommended % rather than time frame. We've been told 4 months but surely there's a reading we should be looking for when that time comes?

FreeBear

annieb1981 wrote: »

I suppose what I was looking for was a recommended % rather than time frame.

If you were thinking of using one of those moisture meters with pointy prongs on the end, two problems with them - 1) It will only give an indication of moisture content at the surface. The reading should never be relied upon as they are intended for use on wood. Concrete contains all sorts of additives that will affect the reading.