Insitu moisture monitoring of new houses during construction
Objective was to understand weathertightness performance of Hitex Diamond-clad houses
During a construction of a major subdevelopment in Auckland, Waitakere City Council requested “what is MC behind the wall” before it would issue CCC on subdivision – otherwise the claddings had to come off.
30 Houses tested in 600 locations over 3 months
30 houses had approx 90 wire looms installed representing 600 odd locations covering North Walls, South Walls, bottom plates, lintels, midfloors, studs etc.
Moisture levels acceptable and some construction faults in windows and roofs were discovered
For all locations tested, all moisture levels settled below 18\% once construction was complete, some at 10\%. Several leaks were found – which the builder fixed – which was a successful auditing outcome of the moisture monitoring. This particular outcome of the research led to current Mdu Probe System