Awkward bases in Bicester kitchens and bathrooms
Floors that need latex are rarely new. They belong to houses that have already had a kitchen or two, a bathroom refit and several changes of flooring, each leaving something behind. In Bicester, where so much housing went up between the 1970s and the 1990s, that layering is typical in areas such as Bure Park and Langford Village.
Latex differs from an ordinary smoothing compound in its liquid. The powder is stirred into a latex emulsion instead of water, which gives a thin coat a little more flexibility and grip on bases a water-mixed product handles less happily. It is spread thin, usually a few millimetres, and its job is to give the next floor a smooth face, not to change the height of the room.
The bases it commonly goes over:
Flooring grade plywood screwed down over old floorboards. Latex never goes straight onto bare boards, because they move with every footstep and the coat would crack along each joint.
Quarry or ceramic tiles that are still firmly stuck. We tap them across the room first, and any loose or hollow ones are lifted and the gap filled.
Older concrete that is sound but rough, pitted or wavy.
Thin, hard remains of old adhesive, once anything soft or flaky has been scraped away.
The finishes that need this care are the thin ones: sheet vinyl, LVT, lino, rubber and slip resistant safety flooring in a utility or cloakroom. Carpet hides more, but a smooth base still stops ridges wearing through the underlay. Deeper compound pours and flatness classes are covered on our page about levelling uneven Bicester floors.
When latex is the wrong fix in Bicester
A thin coat is only as good as what lies under it, so every job starts with three checks.
Damp comes first. Latex does not stop moisture coming up through an old slab, and on a solid floor without an effective membrane new vinyl can lift within months. Where a reading is high, the floor needs a membrane or a rebuild before any compound goes on. Just 2% of Bicester's homes date from 1919 to 1944, but floors of that age, and the few older ones, are the likeliest to fail this test.
Movement is the second. Boards that bounce underfoot will crack a latex coat however carefully it is mixed. They need screwing down, extra fixings or a fresh sheet of plywood before we come back.
Height is the third. If a kitchen floor drops noticeably from one wall to the other, latex is not the tool. Proud spots may need grinding down before the coat, and a deep hollow may need a screed. Where the screed itself has cracked or come loose, repairs to the existing screed come first.
Priming is the step most people never notice. Each base takes its own primer: one for plywood, another for glazed tiles, another for porous concrete. A calcium sulphate screed is always sanded to take off its laitance and then primed before any latex touches it.
How we price latex screed in Bicester
A fixed written price within 24 hours, once we know the area and the base. See our floor screeding cost guide.
Who lays your latex screed in Bicester
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.
Latex Screed from Slough to Bicester
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 33.3 miles from Bicester, which lies to the north-west. Postcodes here include OX26, and Kidlington (7.8 miles), Brackley (9.4 miles), Buckingham (10.1 miles) and Oxford (11 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
