OK my wording may have thrown you off. I should have said as high as.

I like that last link you gave, Gary!! I called, to ask. Now that this discussion has made me go back and look at what Lee and I discussed. He said 18%, off the top of his head without the documents in front of him. I went and found 15%, but I had 18% in my head from Lee.


I appoligize, Chuck. We get to each share a black bird! But I want the breast, I'm hungry.

Perry, it has to be under 20 to eliminate the opportunity for decay. That, however, is not what the manufacturer is shooting for. I have been poking plywood with meters for a couple of decades now, and I have yet to find any new plywood reading 15%, let alone 18%.

Also,
Since pallets of plywood are stacked tight(not stickered), there is no reason to assume the stuff dries out after being packaged.

Knowutimean?

Yer pal,
CHU


p.s. I would really appreciate someone else sharing their experience with new "unacclimated" plywood readings. I doubt I am the only guy who has had to replace his fair share of plywood. How about you, Perry? Thanks in advance.

I didn't try to twist anything, Perry. I just figured when you said 18 , you meant 18.

I would really like to hear from other folks about this. I live in a pretty wet part of the country and it always reads 12 or less when I buy it. (that is what it reads in houses too.)

I don't remember having any read over 12.8%. Most times it is between 10-12% . That's after it had sat in the house for a day or so.

yeh, me too! The new subflooring I get is always between 10 and 12% MC. I wish it was lower as all the flooring is between 6 and 8%. If the flooring was a little higher and the plywood was a little lower, then in a perfect environment, I wouldn't have to acclimate! Just kidding! On existing subfloors, they are always at 9 to 10% MC unless there is a moisture issue under the house. Then the range is anywhere from 13% and up to over 20%. Egads! I've seen people living directly over "lakes" under their houses. And then they don't understand why they can't have a solid hardwood floor.

You guys have it easy over there, Gary. Worst case scenario is using putty most of the time. Over here we can expect stuff to blow slap off the floor if it sits for any appreciable period of time without the environment being controlled.

I am jealous.

I know, I just like to complain sometimes. The fact is, unless there is a drainage issue under the house, we rarely have subfloor moisture problems, especially up towards the mountains. But here where I live, there are lots of springs and poorly graded lots which have caused problems under many homes. But high moisture plywood only happens when there is a moisture problem under a house (or a leak of course). But now days, most builders (except custom) are using post tension concrete slabs as subfloors. They do make a good floor, very strong, about 10" thick, with perimeter drainage systems. But I still prefer to nail floors down!