Floor Sentry Best Practices
For all of you curious to learn more about our new Floor Sentry system, we’ve put together this best practice checklist for you.
A beautiful wood floor is a significant investment. The last thing you want is for it to be destroyed by moisture issues. The Wagner Meters Floor Sentry shields your investment with ongoing monitoring of environmental conditions that would otherwise cause your wood floor to fail. You’ll have the assurance that you can enjoy your floor with peace of mind for years to come.
But more on the Floor Sentry’s features and why they’re fantastic after the best practice use checklist.
Easy Steps to Getting Started and Installing Floor Sentry Devices:
1. Download the Wagner Sentry app (it’s free!) on to the appropriate Bluetooth®-enabled mobile device. We’ll get into the details on how to use the Wagner Sentry app in a separate checklist below.
2. Install the Floor Sentry device into the flooring to be installed over the subfloor.
- Use the template provided with the Floor Sentry device to rout out the cavity below the surface of a piece of the wood flooring. This is where you’ll install the device.
- After creating the cavity, clean out any debris and dust so the device will adhere and lay cleanly within the cavity you made.
- Place the template inside the cavity as a test to ensure the Floor Sentry sensor will fit. If it fits, remove the template.
- Remove the release liner from the butyl seal on the Floor Sentry and place it into the cavity with the butyl seal-side facing the wood floor plank.
That’s it when it comes to installing a Floor Sentry device. Now, if you want to read data from the Floor Sentry devices, you’ll need to use the Wagner Sentry app, so on to that checklist.
Using the Wagner Sentry App
1. Worth repeating: Make sure your mobile device’s Bluetooth is turned on.
2. Configure your application settings, such as time format, temperature unit (e.g., Fahrenheit or Celsius), and language.
3. Setting up a new Floor Sentry device in the app:
- Name the device in the app. We recommend creating a naming convention that makes sense to you and that you can use on all your projects. For example, you may decide to name each device FAMILYNAME ROOM (e.g., “Johnson Kitchen”).
- Configure the settings for that device, such as reading frequency and the sensor alarm thresholds for both sensors. You set an acceptable range of both the RH and temperature sensors, or leave the defaults in place. When you’re in Bluetooth range, the Wagner Sentry app will push out an app alert to notify you if the device has a reading outside any of these ranges.
4. Downloading the data stored on a device:
- Open the Wagner Sentry app. Upon opening, you should see the Floor Sentry device. If you don’t see it, you’re probably out of range for the Bluetooth connection. Walk around the area until you see the device name.
- Click the “Download” button to transfer the data from the Floor Sentry device to your app.
5. Using the data displays on the Wagner Sentry app:
- When you select a specific device, the app will show you its real-time RH and temp readings. The top sensor’s measurements display in the blue box, and the bottom sensor’s readings are in the green one.
- The app displays a graph showing trend lines based on the downloaded data. The lines are in blue (RH top sensor), green (RH bottom sensor), red (temperature top sensor), and yellow (temperature bottom sensor).
- You can select to see the RH and temperature data for both sensors on the graph or choose to review the data from only the top or bottom sensor.
- Generate a PDF report of the RH and temperature sensor data that you can easily share with others. Just select the date range you want the report to include.
6. When Wagner Meters rolls out an updated version of the Floor Sentry firmware, you can easily download it to devices via the app using Bluetooth.
With the Wagner Sentry app, the floor owner has the ability to real-time monitor the conditions of the wood floor/subfloor and to be automatically notified, when they are within Bluetooth range, if the conditions are outside of the user-defined optimal settings. The intent is to catch the changes before they have the ability to cause irreparable damage to the floor.
Summary of Floor Sentry features
- Compact, thin device with two sensors, one is taking RH and temp readings of the wood and the other taking them on the subfloor.
- Easy to use installation template ensures the routed cavity is the right size for the device.
- The free Wagner Sentry app manages the devices and connects to them via any Bluetooth-enabled device running the app.
- The app pushes out an alarm notification if it reads an RH or temp outside the user-defined alarm threshold for that device when it was installed.
- Each device has a large storage capacity capable of storing over 16,000 readings.
- Each device has a pre-installed, long-life battery with a shelf-life of up to 10 years. A battery health indicator in the device will push out an alert to the app if the battery is running low.
- It comes with a 1-year warranty.
The Floor Sentry is an easy-to-install, easy-to-use data logger for wood floors that provides a lot of protection. You know the potential damage that excessive moisture content can cause hardwood floors. You try to educate homeowners on how to care for their wood floor, but now you can empower them as well. With the Floor Sentry working quietly at its post taking regular readings, it protects the floor, the homeowner’s investment, and your reputation.
The Wagner Sentry app alerts the homeowner if conditions fall out of range so any defensive or remedial action can be taken before a more significant, more expensive problem manifests. And it provides you a consistent data record that will help you uncover what caused the change in conditions. The Floor Sentry offers peace of mind for everyone.
Jason has 20+ years’ experience in sales and sales management in a spectrum of industries and has successfully launched a variety of products to the market, including the original Rapid RH® concrete moisture tests. He currently works with Wagner Meters as our Rapid RH® product sales manager.
Last updated on July 20th, 2023