Ply, old tiles and worn concrete under Bromley refits
The name puzzles people, so start with what comes in the buckets. Latex screed arrives in two parts: a cement based powder and a latex liquid that takes the place of the water a plain compound is mixed with. The latex gives the cured layer a little flexibility and a far stronger grip on smooth or difficult surfaces. That is why it is chosen for bases an ordinary compound would struggle to hold on to.
Three bases turn up in Bromley kitchen and bathroom refits. The first is a timber floor overboarded with flooring grade plywood, screwed down at close centres so nothing moves. Latex goes on the ply and never on bare boards, because boards shrink, cup and flex through the year and would crack a thin layer within weeks. The second is old quarry or ceramic tile that is still firmly bonded. Instead of chiselling it up and risking damage to the slab below, the tiles are degreased, primed and covered. The third is older concrete that has worn uneven, or that still carries a thin, well stuck film of adhesive after carpet or vinyl has come up.
A kitchen in a house built before the war may have had two or three floors laid in it, one over another, so the first job is finding out what is actually there. Each base then gets its own primer. Tiles take one made for non-porous surfaces, and concrete or cement screed takes another. A calcium sulphate screed is always primed, once its laitance has been sanded off.
Where old coverings, loose tiles or soft bitumen have to come off first, that stripping is part of our floor preparation work.
When latex is the wrong fix in Bromley homes
Latex is a finishing layer, not a cure. It does nothing for a damp floor, it will not stiffen boards that bounce, and it cannot pull a badly sloping floor back to level. Each of those has to be sorted before any latex is mixed.
Damp comes first. Penge and Anerley's Victorian terraces are a case in point, since a new membrane may be needed there before any fresh floor goes down, and a thin compound spread over a slab with moisture rising through it will blister or let go, taking the vinyl with it. A hygrometer reading shows whether the base is dry enough. If it is not, the answer is a membrane and new screed, which our hand-laid screed page for Bromley explains.
Movement is next. If a floor flexes underfoot, the joists or boards are fixed, then the floor is overboarded with ply, and only then does latex go down.
Level is the final test. At a few millimetres, latex smooths a surface; it does not correct a fall of a couple of centimetres across a room. That needs a deeper levelling pour or a new screed, and levelling compound across Bromley sets out how we choose. If the old screed is cracked or hollow, repairing the screed has to happen before anything goes on top.
How we price latex screed in Bromley
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 Bromley
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 Bromley
On the map, Bromley sits east-south-east of Slough, about 31.8 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including SE20, BR3, TN16 and BR1), next to Swanley (5.5 miles), Lewisham (5.7 miles), Croydon (5.8 miles) and Bexley (6.9 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
