Rebuilding old solid floors in central Abingdon-on-Thames
A solid floor in a period house was usually laid with no damp proof membrane and little or no insulation. Over time the surface cracks, tiles loosen and the room feels cold. When the floor has failed, relaying it properly is the lasting fix.
The sequence is the same in most rooms. The old floor is broken out and removed, the base is made good, and then insulation and a damp proof membrane go down with the membrane lapped up the walls. On top of those goes the new screed, floating free of the base at about 65mm deep in a house. The screed thickness guide explains how that depth relates to door thresholds and finished floor height.
Sand and cement is the practical choice here for several reasons. It is mixed to suit each room, it can be laid one room at a time while the rest of the house stays in use, and it handles chimney breasts, awkward corners and narrow openings that make pumping a poor fit. Some adhesives and finishes also insist on a cement base, and this gives you one.
If the concrete already there is sound and the floor only has to come up a little, a 25 to 40mm layer bonded directly to the prepared slab may do. The bonded screed service covers how that surface is prepared so the new layer grips.
Allow time for drying. Each of the first 40mm takes about a day to dry and the rest takes longer, so a 65mm floor in one of these old rooms needs several weeks before the flooring goes down.
Bonded, floating and sloped floors in Abingdon-on-Thames homes
Not every hand-laid job is a period house. Post-war homes in Peachcroft and elsewhere bring their own reasons to choose sand and cement.
Garage conversions are one. The garage slab tends to sit a step below the house, and we raise it with insulation and a floating screed until it meets the room next door. The areas are small and rectangular, which suits a hand-laid floor. Every layer is explained in screeding a garage conversion floor.
Wet rooms are another. Here the hand-laid floor can slope gently towards a drain, and it is happy getting wet in a way calcium sulphate is not. We form the falls by hand, ready for tanking and tiles.
A cement screed also takes load earlier than some alternatives, which helps when other trades need to work on the floor soon after. If the dates are tight, we can add a rapid drying admixture so the flooring can follow sooner, and fibres for crack resistance add £1 to £3 per m².
If the room is a large open extension rather than a small or awkward space, compare this page with liquid screed for Abingdon-on-Thames extensions, which is thinner and quicker to lay across a wide floor.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in Abingdon-on-Thames
Sand and cement screed: £18 to £25 per m² supplied and laid (MyJobQuote, August 2026), so £450 to £630 for 25 m². MyJobQuote does not say whether these figures include VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide or screed calculator.
Who lays your sand and cement screed in Abingdon-on-Thames
K & B Screeding’s own team, led by director Donatas Bardisevicius. Founded 2019, company 12298780.
See what customers say in our Google reviews and on our testimonials page.
Sand and Cement Screed from Slough to Abingdon-on-Thames
Abingdon-on-Thames is about 29 miles west-north-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including OX14. The nearest towns to it are Didcot (4.7 miles), Oxford (5.7 miles), Wantage (8.4 miles) and Kidlington (10.5 miles).
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.
