Supply and Delivery of Wood

An item I feel worth monitoring is the supply of wood for internal use (untreated wood –no preservative used ). By monitoring I mean the moisture content. For example I received battens for the ceiling fixing of plasterboard. Some batches after 2 weeks grew mould. It was luck and the fact that I was not ready to install it that averted a real problem if it had been nailed to the rafters.

I did comment mentally to myself when I was carrying it into the house that some pieces were much heavier than others but that experience did not cause alarm. A symptom that I now know is that they were wet and this has a consequence.

In order to monitor the moisture content of dry wood supplied by building providers on site for the likes of battens that are used to secure plasterboard I will from now on use a moisture meter. When my supply was delivered I did not have a wood moisture meter at hand (they cost 20 to 30 euros). I do now .  Even though the wood was purchased and supplied as definitely dry . Once I had it stacked indoors certain batches were obviously not as promised as mould started to appear within two weeks.  The lesson going forward is have a moisture meter at hand. Test it while still on the lorry and send it back to the builder providers if the moisture levels are too high.