Designation: F2170 11 - ACC Environmental Consultants, Inc.

1 Designation: F2170 11 Standard Test Method forDetermining relative humidity in concrete Floor SlabsUsing in situ Probes1 This standard is issued under the fixed designation F2170 ; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. Asuperscript epsilon ( ) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or This test method covers the quantitative determinationof percent relative humidity in concrete slabs for field orlaboratory The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regardedas standard.

2 The values given in parentheses are mathematicalconversions to SI units that are provided for information onlyand are not considered standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to warnings are given in Section7, , Referenced standards :2C511 Specification for Mixing Rooms, Moist Cabinets,Moist Rooms, and Water Storage Tanks Used in theTesting of Hydraulic Cements and ConcretesE104 Practice for Maintaining Constant relative Humidityby Means of Aqueous SolutionsF710 Practice for Preparing concrete Floors to ReceiveResilient Flooring3.

3 humidity , n ratio of the amount of watervapor actually in the air compared to the amount of water vaporrequired for saturation at that particular temperature andpressure, expressed as a temperature and relative humidity , n averageambient air temperature and relative humidity that typicallywill be found in a building s occupied spaces during Summary of Test This test method comprises two procedures for formingholes in concrete into which a relative humidity probe isplaced. Procedure A for hardened concrete involves drilling acylindrical hole in concrete with a rotary hammerdrill, thenplacing a hollow sleeve to line the hole.

4 Procedure B is analternative procedure for fresh concrete , which involves form-ing a cylindrical hole in concrete by placing a hollow cylin-drical tube in the formwork, then placing and consolidatingconcrete around the tube. The liner or tube permits measure-ment of RH at a specific, well-defined depth in the methods of probe calibration and factors affectingequilibration are described in Significance and Moisture permeating from concrete floor slabs affectsthe performance of flooring systems such as resilient andtextile floor coverings and coatings. Manufacturers of suchsystems generally require moisture testing to be performedbefore installation on concrete .

5 Internal relative humiditytesting is one such Excessive moisture permeating from floor slabs afterinstallation can cause floor covering system failures such asdebonding and deterioration of finish flooring and coatings andmicrobial Moisture test results indicate the moisture condition ofthe slab only at the time of the Liner,made of plastic or non-corroding metal. Theliner shall have the shape of a hollow right circular cylinderand shall be between to (10 to 20 mm) The liner shall have a solid sidewall that is open onlyat the bottom and at the top. Slots, holes, or other penetrationsin the sidewall of the liner are not permitted.

6 Two or more1 This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM CommitteeF06on ResilientFloor Coverings and is the direct responsibility of edition approved Aug. 1, 2011. Published September 2011. Originallyapproved in 2002. Last previous edition approved in 2009 as F2170 -09. referenced ASTM standards , visit the ASTM website, , orcontact ASTM Customer Service at ForAnnual Book of ASTMS tandardsvolume information, refer to the standard s Document Summary page onthe ASTM ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959. United States1 Copyright by ASTM Int'l (all rights reserved); Thu Jan 9 14:56:22 EST 2014 Downloaded/printed byJorge J Guerrero (ACC Environmental Consultants, Inc.)

7 Pursuant to License Agreement. No further reproductions circumferential fins located around the exteriorcircumference near the bottom of the liner shall be provided tocreate a positive seal against the concrete . The liner shall be ofsufficient length to extend from the bottom diameter of the holeto the surface of the concrete . SeeFig. The purpose of the liner is to isolate the probe from thesidewall of the hole so that moisture only enters into the sensor from aspecific depth at the bottom of the hole. The specified diameter range willusually permit the hole to intersect a sufficient volume of cement paste toprovide adequate moisture interaction with the sensor for accuratemeasurement.

8 Smaller diameter holes may intersect only a single aggre-gate particle at the bottom of the hole and therefore produce inaccurateresults. If the user observes that the bottom of the hole is occupied by asingle aggregate particle, do not use that Probe and Digital Meter relative humidityand temperature sensors in cylindrical probe, designed suchthat when the probe is installed to its full depth within the holeliner, the following geometrical considerations shall be The sensing elements of the probe shall be locatedwithin in. ( mm) of the base of the linerand the probe sealed or gasketed within itself and the liner suchthat the volume of air being measured cannot escape upwardbeyond in.

9 ( mm) within the probeitself or the liner. SeeFig. Obtain probes from a manufacturer with NIST trace-able calibration equal to or better than62 % relative humidityat 50 % relative humidity and62 % relative humidity at 90 % relative Calibration by end-users using saturated salt solutions inaccordance with PracticePractice for Maintaining Constant RelativeHumidity by Means of Aqueous Solutionsis not recommended due to thetechnical difficulties of maintaining sufficiently accurate reference stan-dards. Checking with salt solutions is an acceptable method of assessingprobe and Asbestos Warning Do not sand, dry sweep,dry scrape, drill, saw, beadblast, or mechanically chip orpulverize existing resilient flooring, backing, lining felt, paint,asphaltic cutback adhesives, or other adhesives.

10 These productsmay contain asbestos fibers or crystalline silica. Avoid creatingdust. Inhalation of such dust is a cancer and respiratory tracthazard. Smoking by individuals exposed to asbestos fibersgreatly increases the risk of serious bodily harm. Unlesspositively certain that the product is a nonasbestos-containingmaterial, presume that it contain asbestos. Regulations mayrequire that the material be tested to determine asbestoscontent. The Resilient Floor Covering Institute s (RFCI) rec-ommended work practices for removal of existing resilientfloor coverings should be consulted for a defined set ofinstructions addressed to the task of removing all resilient floorcovering Warning Certain paints may contain lead.