Moisture Documentation

Why Moisture Readings Matter: Your Drying Compass

Think of moisture readings as your direct line to understanding how well our drying efforts are working. Those readings aren't just numbers; they're telling you the story of the materials we're working with. If a material is still holding onto moisture, it's telling you our air movers are still essential. And when you see those readings drop, you know we're making progress toward our drying goals. This information empowers you to make informed decisions about equipment placement and drying strategies.

Consistent Monitoring: Your Daily Diagnostic Check

We need to conduct these moisture readings daily, alongside our atmospheric readings. It's like taking the patient's vital signs every day. This consistency allows you to see trends, identify potential problems early, and adjust your drying approach accordingly. It’s about you being in control of the project.

Temperature & Relative Humidity: Your Environmental Story

Recording temperature and relative humidity isn't about filling out a form; it's about understanding the environment you're working in. These readings show you the real-time conditions that are impacting the drying process. With this knowledge, you can make educated decisions about how to optimize our drying efforts. Are we getting enough dehumidification? Is the airflow right? These readings are your key to answering those questions.

Calculating Grains Per Pound (GPP): The Modern Drying Metric

While we record relative humidity for documentation and some older industry standards, the real power lies in understanding grains per pound (GPP). This metric, calculated from the temperature and relative humidity, this gives you a clear picture of the actual moisture of the air. It's the information you need to make informed decisions about dehumidification and achieve drying goals quickly and efficiently.

Taking Accurate Readings: Your Professional Tool

Remember, taking accurate readings is essential. Give your thermohygrometer the full 90 seconds to acclimate in each location. Start with an outdoor baseline, then move through the unaffected areas, HVAC, affected areas, and dehumidifiers. This systematic approach ensures you're collecting reliable data that reflects the true conditions on site.

Don't Fake It: Your Integrity and Project Success

Making up readings is not only dishonest, it robs you of the ability to understand and control the drying process. These numbers are for you. They are taken so you can tell what is happening on the job site. They are the information you need to make the project decisions. Taking true & accurate readings is all about your integrity, your professionalism, and your commitment to delivering the best possible results for our clients. It's about empowering you to be the best restoration technician you can be.

These readings show you either you've got the project set up properly, or maybe you need to add more dehumidification. These readings will show you if the customer has been manipulating things like opening windows & doors to "help". These readings reveal the true technician who can properly troubleshoot a project, versus the employee who just plugs equipment in & hopes for the best.

By understanding the "why" behind these readings, and by taking them accurately and consistently, you'll become a more effective and confident restoration technician. You'll be able to make informed decisions, optimize drying efforts, and ultimately, deliver exceptional results for your clients.

Here's why taking those readings first is so important:

• Capturing the Baseline:

  • Before we open doors, before we start tearing out wet materials, we've likely created a controlled environment. Those initial atmospheric readings give us a vital baseline. They show us the success we've made controlling the environment you're working with before you introduce any external factors.

  • This baseline is essential for understanding the true impact of our drying efforts. If you wait till the humidity is spiked because of demolition activities you'll end up recording values that suggest we didn't successfully control the environment. 

• Preventing Environmental Contamination:

  • As soon as we open doors, we lose control of the environment. Outdoor air, with its fluctuating temperature and humidity, starts to influence the space. This contamination skews our readings and makes it harder to assess the effectiveness of our dehumidification.

  • Similarly, as we remove wet materials, we release moisture into the air, drastically changing the humidity levels. Taking readings beforehand allows us to capture the environment before this sudden humidity increase.

• Accurate Dehumidification Assessment:

  • Our atmospheric readings are the key to validating our dehumidification strategy. If we take readings after we've started demolition, we're not seeing the true impact of our equipment. We're instead seeing the effect of our equipment and the changes we've introduced to the environment.

  • Taking the readings first, allows us to see the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of the equipment placement.

• Informed Decision-Making:

  • Those initial readings provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions about your drying strategy. Are we using enough dehumidifiers? Is our airflow adequate? Are we on track to meet our drying goals?

  • This initial data is the foundation of the rest of the drying process.

• Time Efficiency:

  • 10-15 minutes is a small investment of time, compared to the amount of time that can be wasted by making incorrect decisions due to bad data.

By taking those atmospheric readings first, we're setting ourselves up for success. We're ensuring we have accurate data & we're ultimately delivering the best possible results for our clients.

Why this approach is beneficial:

• Accurate Post-Work Assessment:

  • Taking readings at the end of the day gives us a clear picture of the drying status of remaining materials after we've made necessary changes. This provides a more accurate reflection of the current drying conditions.

• Comprehensive Material Removal Documentation:

  • This timing allows us to simultaneously document any wet materials that were removed during the day.

  • By using the letter "R" next to the material's moisture content, we'll clearly document its removal in our monitoring reports.

• Efficient Workflow:

  • Consolidating moisture content readings at the end of the day minimizes disruptions to our workflow and allows us to focus on demolition activities during the day.

  • The moisture content monitoring & documentation takes significantly longer than the atmospheric reporting. But can be performed while the crew member(s) are cleaning up the project upon end of day work. 

• Clear Drying Progress Tracking:

  • This methodology will give us a very clear picture of the drying progress, at the end of each work day.

Documentation Protocol:

• For each material that's been removed, record its current moisture content and add the letter "R" afterwards to indicate that materials removal.

• For materials still being dried, record their current moisture content.

• Ensure all readings are accurately entered into our monitoring reports.