A moisture intrusion inspection answers a homeowner's or buyer's question about a stain, a smell or a soft spot: is it wet now, where is the water coming from, and who should fix it. This form starts from the complaint, works around the outside of the house and down from the roof, records every interior stain with a moisture meter reading beside a dry reading of the same material, and ends with a likely source and a next step. Fill it in here and download a PDF without an account.
Start with the story
The owner usually knows more than the stain does. When did it first appear? Does it show up after every rain, only in a storm from the west, only in spring, or when someone showers upstairs? Has it been painted over or repaired before? A pattern tied to rain points outside; a pattern tied to fixtures points to plumbing; a pattern tied to cold weather often means condensation.
Record the weather too. A stain that reads dry the day after a week of sunshine tells you much less than one tested during or just after rain.
Outside in, top down
Water arrives from above and from outside, so walk the exterior first: how the ground slopes, where the downspouts empty, how windows, doors and the roof-to-wall joints are flashed, and whether siding stops short of the soil. Then the roof and the attic, where staining on the sheathing or rusted nail tips can be traced to a flashing or a bathroom fan venting into the attic.
Only then move inside. By the time you stand under a ceiling stain, you often already know the likely culprit from what you saw above it.
A reading means nothing without a reference
Moisture meters read differently on drywall, plaster, wood and tile, and pinless meters give a relative number rather than a true moisture content. For each stain, take a reading on the stain and another on a dry area of the same material nearby. A stain reading well above its own reference is wet now; one that matches it is probably an old, dried event.
Note the meter and its mode at the top of the report. If you scanned with a thermal camera first, confirm each cool area with the meter before calling it moisture.
Likely source, and how sure you are
A visual inspection often cannot prove where water is coming from without opening a wall or water-testing a window. That is fine, as long as the report says so. This form asks for the likely source and a confidence: confirmed, likely, possible or undetermined.
The next step is usually someone else's — a roofer, a plumber, a grading contractor, or an invasive investigation. Saying who should look next, and what they should look at, is the most useful line in the report.
Common questions
What moisture reading counts as wet?
For wood, readings near 20% moisture content or above are commonly treated as elevated, because decay fungi can start to grow there. For drywall and other materials the number depends on the meter and its scale, so compare against a dry reference of the same material in the same house rather than a fixed figure.
Is a moisture intrusion inspection the same as a mold inspection?
No. This form looks for water and where it comes from. It can note growth you happen to see, but it does not sample air or surfaces or identify organisms. If the client is worried about mold, recommend a mold assessment by someone qualified to do it.
Can you find a leak without opening walls?
Often you can narrow it down, using the pattern of staining, meter readings, a thermal camera and what you see outside and above. Confirming a hidden source sometimes needs a small inspection hole, a water test of a window or roof, or a plumber's pressure test, and the report should say when that is the case.
Why record a stain that is dry?
A dry stain is still evidence that water got in at some point. It may have been fixed, or it may only leak in certain weather. Recording it with a reading and a photo lets the client ask the seller about it and lets you compare on a return visit.
What should a moisture intrusion report include?
The complaint and its history, the weather, exterior drainage and flashing, the roof and attic, each interior stain with location, material, reading and reference reading, the basement or crawlspace, plumbing and appliance sources, the areas you could not inspect, and the likely source with a recommended next step.