How to Measure the Moisture Content of Your Wood

Published on | Log Homes | Weatherall Company, Inc.

Cleaning the logs of your cabin is always the first step before staining, treating or chinking your log cabin.

Once the logs are clean, measuring the moisture content of the wood is the next important step before you apply your stain or treatment.

Watch this video to learn how to clean your logs before you stain >

Dry wood is critical for stain or treatment to set properly — and by dry, we don’t just mean the surface of your wood logs feels dry to the touch.

Verify the moisture level of your wood with a surface reading, a penetrating lignometer or a moisture meter, such as the Lignomat unit used in the video above.

By penetrating deep into the wood cells, these tools will give you a reading of the moisture content one to two inches below the surface.

You’ll want a moisture reading of 18% or less, one inch below the surface of the wood. Once you have this reading, you’re ready to stain or treat your logs.

Should you chink or stain your logs first? >