Regretted cheaping out on a moisture meter for my basement project

I was finishing my basement in Denver last fall and figured I could save $50 by grabbing a basic $20 moisture meter from the hardware store. Big mistake. After I painted and sealed the walls, I noticed damp spots forming behind the drywall about two weeks later. Turns out my cheap meter was reading way off and I missed a leak near the foundation corner. I had to tear out three sheets of drywall and redo the insulation, which cost me around $300 in materials alone. The wasted time was even worse since I had to push back my whole schedule by a month. Anyone else had a tool fail like this and end up paying way more down the road?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.parker1h ago

Yeah @alex820 nailed it, cheap meters are basically just guessing for you.

fionamurphy1h ago

Laughed at that one, my dollar store meter told me a stud was hiding in the drywall.

alex8205h ago

Yeah, been there. Cheap meters are garbage for any kind of serious work, you're basically gambling on whether you're getting real numbers or not. A pinless one from a decent brand would have been cheaper than redoing the whole wall.