Latex over old tiles and boards in Chichester
Latex screed is a trade name rather than a separate kind of screed. The powder in the bag is cement based, and the liquid it is mixed with is latex rather than water. It goes down thin, usually a few millimetres, and its job is to smooth a base that is already sound, not to build one.
That makes it a good match for refits in older Chichester houses, and 13% of the city's homes were built before 1919. Lifting the kitchen floor in a house of that age can reveal quarry or ceramic tiles laid generations ago. If those tiles are still firmly bonded, there is no need to hack them up: they are cleaned, degreased, primed and skimmed, and the new finish goes over the top with almost no change in height. Loose or hollow tiles are taken out and the gaps filled first.
Suspended timber floors are treated differently. Latex is never poured straight onto bare floorboards, because boards move with the seasons and the thin layer would crack along every joint. The boards are screwed down and overboarded with flooring grade plywood, and the latex goes over the plywood.
Homes built between 1945 and 1972 account for 19% of the city, and concrete floors of that age are often uneven after decades of patching. A thin latex coat evens out small ridges and patch edges before sheet vinyl. Where the floor dips or rises by more than a few millimetres, read about floor levelling in Chichester instead.
When latex is wrong for a Chichester floor
Latex hides a poor base for a few months and then shows it. Three faults rule it out until they are put right.
Damp is the first. Solid floors inside the walls are old enough that some were laid without any membrane against rising moisture, and moisture coming up through a slab will soften adhesive and lift the finish whatever goes between them. A moisture reading comes before any priming, and a floor that fails it needs a membrane or rebuilding; our insulation and membranes page covers that work.
Movement is the second. A springy timber floor, or plywood fixed too sparsely, will crack a thin latex coat within weeks. The answer is more fixings, new boards or thicker ply, before any compound is mixed.
Level is the third. A floor that falls badly across a whole room needs a new sand and cement screed rather than a thin coat poured ever deeper.
Primer is part of the job, not an extra. Concrete, old tiles, plywood and old adhesive each take their own primer, and a calcium sulphate screed has its laitance removed and is always primed before latex touches it. Loose or broken patches are dealt with through screed repairs first. Whether the house is in Summersdale, Whyke, Stockbridge or Portfield, the same three checks come before any latex is mixed.
How we price latex screed in Chichester
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 Chichester
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 Chichester
On the map, Chichester sits south of Slough, about 48.4 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including PO19), next to Bognor Regis (6 miles), Emsworth (7 miles), Selsey (7.2 miles) and Havant (9.2 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.