That cheap moisture meter I laughed at actually caught a leak

My buddy swore by his $30 pinless meter from Amazon and I thought it was junk until I borrowed it and found water behind a tile wall in a 2018 build. Has anyone else had a budget tool prove them totally wrong on a call?

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taylor_mitchell805mo ago

That little $12 pinless meter from Harbor Freight caught a leak for me in a bathroom I would have never found otherwise... I was checking a shower pan and it kept giving weird readings near the corner, so I poked around more and sure enough, there was a slow drip behind the tile that had just started softening the drywall on the other side. The guy who owned the house had installed it himself and thought it was bulletproof, but that cheap little thing saved me from missing a huge insurance claim down the road. I still use it all the time now, even though I bought a nicer one later... sometimes the simple stuff just works better for spot checks. It made me stop being such a snob about tools honestly, because a $30 meter that finds a real problem is worth more than a $300 one that sits in the truck.

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gonzalez.wesley5mo ago

Ha, I mean maybe it's just me but a little moisture meter finding a leak doesn't automatically make it a genius tool, right? @taylor_mitchell80 you caught one decent issue but there's a reason the expensive ones have better build quality and accuracy for tough spots. I still wouldn't trust my whole inspection to a $12 Harbor Freight special personally.

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