Monitoring and Documentation
Documentation rules
- Record baseline readings before any equipment is placed: material MC/%WME, air temperature, RH, dew point, GPP and outdoor conditions.
- Take daily readings at marked, consistent locations, at the same time of day, with the same instrument.
- Keep a drying log covering three environments: affected, unaffected reference and outdoor.
- Photograph each reading with the meter visible and the location identifiable, date-stamped.
- Log equipment by type, serial number, placement, start/stop times and run hours.
- Record occupant communications, access problems and any deviation from the drying plan.
Reading the trend
A valid trend shows material MC falling toward the dry standard while the chamber's humidity ratio also falls or holds. Flat material MC with rising or static GPP means the system is not removing water: check containment leaks, equipment performance and unaddressed sources.
Worked example
Day 0: drywall 18% WME, 62% RH, 78 GPP. Day 2: 12% WME, 42% RH, 55 GPP. Day 4: 9% WME, 38% RH, 48 GPP, against an 8% dry standard. Drying is complete when readings sit within about 2 points of the dry standard and hold stable across two consecutive daily readings. That stable reading is the evidence supporting equipment pickup.
Traps
Recording material MC but not the psychrometrics; moving sensors so readings are not comparable; omitting readings that look wrong, since a spike usually signals a new source; no run-hour record, which weakens both the invoice and the drying defense.