What is your favorite moisture meter.
I am looking for an inexpensive but reliable moisture meter as I gather tools to get started. Thanks for any suggestions! Any tool suggestions, or advice, would be greatly appreciated!
This is what I used, Susan.
It may be less expensive on Amazon or elsewhere. 
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Delmhorst BD2100 with remote probe on painter’s pole for high ceilings. I also used hammer probe and deep wall probes for diagnostic work.
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I use this one for crawlspaces and attics. It’s a 2-pin only, but it compact size makes it easy to always have with you. If you want a pin/pinless, I like the Protimeter Surveymaster.
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Susan, there are a lot of inexpensive moisture meters out there. Spend your money on the Tramex or Delmhorst. They are not inexpensive but well worth the money. I have the Tramex.
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The 10 Best Moisture Meters
Expect to pay $250 to $400 and up when you get established. Insure to calibrate your professional tools as required by the manufacture.
My go to moisture meters. Tramex MHRIII and DelMhorst Tech-Check Plus with extension and 6" inch probes for EFIS and other wall assemblies.
Roughly $1,600.
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Susan you need to do a little research. I’d be very wary of products that don’t have an accuracy specification (all the <$100.00 meters). Accuracy is generally stated as a percent of scale +/_ some number. Accuracy of some of these cheap meters can be way out of line with reality. You might be better off testing with your finger. Certain materials do not lend themselves to moisture tests and require specialized equipment (expensive). Consider your use/need Good luck.
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Going along with the others, do your research. Most tools that are analytic in nature need to be calibrated to verify the accuracy of the reading you get. Most all of these indicate that they are capable of being calibrated in their literature. I use a survaymaster.
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Thank you everyone! I got the answer I needed, save my money until I can afford the real thing. I actually contacted the only internachi inspector in my area yesterday to inquire about his fees(actually trying to buy a house and need it inspected), and he retired in September. I am considering calling him back and asking if he has any tools for sale!
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Good idea, Susan!
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and keep Your eyes on the want adds section here , older guys scaling back all the time…
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Can you comment on the pinless action of the techcheck, reliable? not as good as TRAMEX? why did you get it instead of BD2100? Thanks.
All three are solid meters!
My first moisture meter was the MMD7NP Pinless Digital Moisture Meter with Tricolor Bar Graph. < $100.00 Canadian.
Reports read, approximate moisture >< and the number.
All I could afford at the moment.
A High definition high zoom camera was my first real investment to protect myself from liability. Got in close from afar and took great images you could blow up large.
As to your questions:
I purchased the DelMhorst Tech-Check Plus seeing it was pin and pin less, destructive/non-destructive testing with high accuracy. DelMhorst is highly regarded in the building inspection industry.
Reason I purchased Tramex MRHIII. Bit of a long explanation. Here goes.
During my first court appearance defending a plaintiff as witness, the defendants layer and engineer asked, "What type of equipment and training do you have. Was the equipment calibrated?
Yes, Equipment: DelMhorst Tech-Check Plus. Recent equipment. Under 1 year old. No need to calibrate at the moment.
Defendants engineer: Who is DelMhorst?
My jaw fit the floor. You must be kidding I mumbled under my breath.
Sir, Delmhorst Instrument Co . is a leading manufacturer of high-quality moisture testing devices for a variety of applications and industries world wide.
Defendants layer: Your experience and expertise Mr. Young. Are you an engineer?
No sir. I am not an engineer. Might I add respectfully, engineers are not home inspectors.
Sir, a home inspector and engineer differ by degree and scope of an analyse.
Home Inspectors visually observe structure, systems and components in residential homes or buildings for common defects and deficiencies. Structural engineers at times are referred to for further analyses of a structure.
The judge then broke up the back and forth asking me, what credentials do you have besides you carrier experience to verify your standing as a home inspector.
Your honor. Besides being a InterNACHI certified professional inspector or CPI, I am a Board Certified Master Inspector. Combining all my home inspection certifications and decades in the construction industry, many trade facets, I applied for, was vetted for prior or current criminal records and was approve the designation, CMI or Certified Master Inspector.
The judge turned to the defendants attorney and asked, Does Mr. Young’s credentials satisfy the both of you to be accepted Mr. Young as expert witness?
The defendants attorney and engineer both conferred for 2 minutes later saying, 'Yes your Honor."
The judge. ‘Thank you both.’
Mr. Young. Do you have any questions to ask the defendants expert witness?
Yes I do your Honor. I jumped at the opportunity.
Sir: You say you are a practicing engineer. What type of engineering background do you have? Do you belong to any order?
It turned out the so called engineer was a renovation consultant. He excused himself for being refereed to as an engineer for so long.
The following week I purchased the Tramex MRHIII seeing I wanted to be involved as witness of fact or expert witness more often and did not want the headache of equipment being confused.
< 11 court appearances so far. All civil. 2 scheduled for this spring.
That is why you by good inspection equipment. You never know when you will be asked to proceed in a hearing.
Hope that helps.
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Protimeter with probes since 2001. Kinda expensive but I always felt confident with it. That said, it’s just the one I got used to, so take time to check them out.
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I am glad he is retired, looking over old paperwork I realized that he inspected my house before we sold it on a deal that fell through. With my new knowledge I read his report. He did not inspect either the heating or cooling system, he noted ac not checked due to temp but not a single note on the heating system. There was an oil stain in a overhead light fixture with fluorescent lights that had been there since before my husband purchased the house, he flagged it as an active leak where the source could not be identified. I am glad he is not available to inspect my prospective purchase. I just hope I don’t scare the other inspector we are trying to schedule away, my husband told him I am training to become an inspector! 
Hi Susan, I am a little late on this, but saw this post when looking through emails. I was in the disaster restoration industry for 30 years starting at the global level and have used all of the meters mentioned on the post. Now I am using the Flir MR60 for around $300. In the past my favorites were the Tramex moisture encounter and the EXTECH 5 in 1 model MO290. The reason why these 2 is because of there accuracy in non-destructive mode on masonry and tile materials. You want effective non-destructive mode metering because folks do not want you making holes in walls/floors. The Tramex has been around for quite some time and may seem like a dinosaur to newbie folks but highly dependable and has specific modes at push of button for different materials. I was on inspection yesterday and client want to know if block foundation wall was taking on water. I have to say that with the new Flir I was not as confident in my measurement as i would have been with the Tramex. Maybe I need some training. I only have the FLIR because I was curious and have their C2 infrared camera. Active leak or wet materials can typically be found with infrared and verified with moisture meter which Flir has all in one infrared and moisture meter. The Extech has laser temp as well. Hope this helps.
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Hi Chuck. I was wondering if you have any close up shots of how your Delmhorst BD2100 attaches to your painters pole? I too have the same meter and attachment and would like to use the same setup you use. Thanks in advance.