Rebuilding earth floors in Bocking and central Braintree
A ground floor laid straight on earth has no damp proof membrane and no insulation. It can feel cold and damp underfoot, and new coverings laid over it may not last. The fix is to dig it out to a depth that allows for a membrane, a layer of insulation and a new screed, then build it back up so the finished floor meets the existing doors and thresholds.
In a Bocking terrace, laying by hand is normally the sensible way to do that last layer. Floated over the insulation in a home, it is typically 65mm deep. It is mixed on site, so the mix and depth can change from room to room, and it can be brought right up to old, out-of-square walls and awkward doorways. Where the rooms are small and separate, hand laying handles them well.
It is also cement based, which matters where a bathroom or kitchen floor may get wet. Calcium sulphate screeds do not suit those areas, so sand and cement is the safer option for wet rooms, utility rooms and any floor laid to falls. For a shower floor, the screed is formed by hand to fall towards the drain.
Many of these jobs involve more than the screed. The floor preparation service covers getting the base ready, and our insulation and membranes service supplies and lays the layers beneath the new floor.
Braintree's post war semis and bonded screeds
Plenty of hand-laid work stops well short of a rebuild. Some floors in semis from the post war decades are sound and only need building up for a new finish, while others are being replaced as part of a kitchen extension. If the old concrete is solid and clean, we prepare it and bond 25 to 40mm of screed directly to it, raising the floor with no digging. How that bond is formed is covered under bonded screeding.
Where the concrete has failed, the old floor comes out and a floating 65mm screed goes in over new insulation.
A garage being converted is a similar case. Its floor has to come up to the level of the house, normally with insulation and a membrane under the new screed, and our guide to garage floor screeding gives the depths.
What you give up is drying time. A 65mm floor will be several weeks off most coverings, losing around a millimetre a day to 40mm and slowing after that, though faster drying mixes can trim the wait. If a heated floor is part of the plan, the underfloor heating screed page covers pipe cover and the 21 day wait before the heating can go on.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in Braintree
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 Braintree
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 Braintree
Braintree is about 56.7 miles east-north-east of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including CM7 and CM77. The nearest towns to it are Halstead (5.7 miles), Witham (6.6 miles), Great Dunmow (8.1 miles) and Chelmsford (10.3 miles).
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.
