At one point not too long ago, these tools were rarely — if ever — seen in the possession of a dealer/contactor. One might’ve seen a moisture meter in the hands of an inspector who was utilizing the instrument in the course of determining the cause of a flooring failure. Even then, not every inspector would use the tool, as the values they expressed did not have meaningful significance to the flooring industry at large.
At the time, electronic meters were not utilized to any great extent mainly because they measured moisture content — not a vapor emission rate, as the calcium chloride dome test does. As specified in ASTM F1869-98, the moisture dome test determines the moisture vapor emission rate of concrete by gauging the weight change in a sample of calcium chloride that’s placed in close proximity to the slab for a predetermined amount of time.