Latex over ply in Primrose Hill and Kentish Town flats
Latex screed starts as a cement based powder, and the liquid that goes into it is latex rather than water. The latex gives the cured layer some give and a firmer grip on smooth or slightly flexible surfaces, which is why it is the usual choice over timber that has been overboarded.
That situation is common in a flat carved out of a period house. Upper floors sit on joists with boards on top, and a new kitchen or bathroom finish needs a smooth, solid face. Latex is never laid on the bare boards, which shift too much for any cement based layer. The boards are screwed down, loose or damaged ones replaced, and flooring grade plywood fixed over them at close centres. The ply is primed and the latex spread across it, a few millimetres deep, ready for sheet vinyl or LVT.
Sound is the other rule in a converted house. Any acoustic layer needed between flats belongs in the build-up beneath, designed by your architect or agreed with building control, and the latex simply finishes the top. Keeping that top layer thin is what lets the whole stack meet the landing and the next room without a step.
Old adhesive left when carpet or vinyl comes up can stay if it is thin, hard and well stuck; soft or patchy residue is scraped or ground off first. Where boards bounce or joists are weak, latex will crack, so repairs or new boarding come before it. A floor that needs building up by more than a few millimetres belongs on our Camden floor levelling page instead.
Old tiles and concrete in Camden's post-war blocks
The council's own architects' department left a strong post-war legacy, the Alexandra Road Estate by Neave Brown among it. Refurbishing a flat in any block of that era raises the same question: what is under the old covering, and can it take a thin finish?
In a purpose-built block the answer is usually concrete or an old screed, often carrying ceramic tiles from an earlier bathroom, a film of adhesive and patches of filler. Tiles that are still firmly bonded can stay. They are cleaned, keyed where glazed, primed and covered with latex, which hides grout lines that would otherwise show through vinyl. Hollow tiles are lifted and the gaps filled first. Slight undulations in older concrete are smoothed the same way.
Where the base is a calcium sulphate screed, as can be the case in newer flats, its weak top skin, the laitance, is sanded away and a primer made for calcium sulphate applied before latex goes on.
Damp is a stop sign. Basement and lower ground floor conversions in Camden need membranes and insulation beneath the floor, and latex laid over moisture will fail. If a hard skin or old coating has to come off before priming, grinding the old surface back is the first step.
How we price latex screed in Camden
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 Camden
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 Camden
On the map, Camden sits east of Slough, about 21.3 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including WC1B, NW1, N6 and W1T), next to Islington (1.7 miles), Westminster (2.1 miles), Kensington and Chelsea (3.4 miles) and Haringey (3.5 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.