Does ACQ Pressure Treating Affect Moisture Readings?
I recently received the following question from a reader: Since PT plywood has a high copper content will it effect a moisture level reading? I have PT plywood on the subfloor down stairs and the same plywood upstairs without PT. I can’t get the same moisture level content between floors. Is it the reading that’s different and not the moisture level? In my answer, I mentioned that because most wood moisture detectors utilize electric current conductance to determine the amount of moisture content in the wood, having a higher level of copper in the wood (from the ACQ-treating) would definitely throw off the readings when compared to non-treated material. The U.S. Forestry service has a PDF document that explains how moisture meters can be affected by varying levels of conductance. If the wood in the two floors has been in place for more than a few months, it is very likely that both floors ha
