If there are quite small amounts of moisture in a wall of dense plaster or brick then a meter will probably indicate over 20 or so and this will be in the red zone or beeps and squeeks may happen.
Wall moisture meter readings.
When the moisture content is around 30 wood reaches its fiber saturation point or fsp.
The speedy chemical moisture meter gives a quantitative reading of the total moisture content in masonry.
Moisture meters are used to measure the percentage of water in a given piece of wood and are most useful when the percentage of moisture ranges from 5 to no more than 30.
Some meters use a 0 300 reference scale so readings taken on a reference scale often do not.
In many cases a moisture meter s reference scale will range from 0 100 but that reading should not be confused with a percentage.
Other types of meters are available from ones that use electromagnetic waves to detect moisture under the wall.
I have seen drywall in a garage show 15 with a pin type meter on a hot summer day with high rh and the high reading was due to the high humidity and nothing more.
Moisture meter readings i would say that 6 is fairly normal in an occupied home.
When used on the timber the readings recorded are moisture content relative.
The moisture levels of drywall are very dependent on the rh relative humidity in the area.
One meter might have a reference mode setting that displays moisture values from 0 300 while the other one goes from 0 100.
As readings exceed 20 wme remedial works are deemed necessary to this area.
Moisture meter testing showed readings in excess of 40 wme wood moisture equivalent to the porous plaster on walls.
Care must be taken interpreting the readings when using these types of meters contaminants within plasterwork can be electrically conductive.
For example say you have two different moisture meters.
Calibrate the moisture meter according to instructions before testing your wall.
In the wood scale the meter can detect moisture accurately over a range of 6 mc to 40 mc.
While it might be tempting to think of readings on the 0 100 reference scale meter as percent values they are not.