Latex over awkward bases in older Burton Latimer homes
Latex screed takes its name from the liquid in the kit. Instead of mixing the cement based powder with water, the fitter stirs it into a latex emulsion, and that gives the set layer a little flexibility and a firm grip on surfaces where a plain compound might let go. It goes down thin, usually a few millimetres, and its purpose is to smooth rather than to build height.
That suits the floors that appear when an older Burton Latimer kitchen or bathroom is stripped out. Houses around High Street and Church Street date from the town's factory era growth and earlier, and a further 7% of today's homes were added between the wars. Rooms of that age often carry several generations of flooring. Lift the newest one and you might find quarry tiles still well fixed, a patch of concrete where a range once stood, or a run of timber.
Every base is checked before anything is mixed. Tiles are tapped for hollow spots, and loose ones are lifted and the holes filled. Concrete is scraped back to a sound face. Old adhesive can stay only when it is thin, hard and well stuck; soft or patchy residue comes off first, sometimes by diamond grinding the old glue away.
Timber needs the most thought. Latex never goes straight onto bare floorboards, because boards shrink and swell through the year and a thin coat would crack along every joint. The boards are screwed down tight, then flooring grade plywood is fixed over the whole room, and the latex is laid on the plywood.
Primers, damp and limits for latex in Burton Latimer
Latex holds only as well as the primer and base beneath it. Glazed ceramic and quarry tiles need a primer made for smooth, non porous surfaces. Plywood takes one that suits timber, and concrete one that controls how fast the surface drinks water out of the mix. Where an extension at Hanwood Park or in Barton Seagrave has a calcium sulphate screed, its weak surface skin has to be sanded away, and a suitable primer applied, before any latex goes near it, every time.
Damp comes next. Some of the oldest Burton Latimer houses were built with solid floors and nothing to stop ground moisture, and a thin latex coat cannot hold that back. When a moisture reading is high, the honest fix is a membrane and a relaid floor, which means a new hand-laid sand and cement floor rather than a smoothing coat.
Two more limits apply. Boards that still flex after fixing need more work, since latex cracks over movement. A room that falls or dips across its width is also beyond a layer this thin, so it needs levelling compound or a screed first.
Once dry, latex suits sheet vinyl, LVT, lino, rubber, safety flooring and carpet. Homes over towards Kettering have their own Kettering latex screed page.
How we price latex screed in Burton Latimer
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 Burton Latimer
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 Burton Latimer
On the map, Burton Latimer sits north of Slough, about 57.4 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including NN15), next to Kettering (3.3 miles), Wellingborough (4.2 miles), Rushden (6 miles) and Raunds (6.2 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
