Christchurch homes and the screed each one needs
Census 2021 counted 48,973 people in the Christchurch built-up area, and its housing falls into three broad groups.
Older homes around Portfield and the town centre come first. Portfield was 300 acres of common land, enclosed and built on from 1873, and older homes there may have floors that have reached the end of their life. Putting one right normally involves breaking it out, getting a membrane down and screeding afresh, and for the small rooms of a Portfield house, sand and cement worked by hand makes most sense.
The post war and later suburbs are the largest group. Detached and semi-detached houses fill them, and rear extensions and open-plan ground floors are the natural projects on them. Lay a broad insulated floor in one of those and a pumped liquid pour is the obvious fit; add heating pipes and the questions of cover and first warm-up are answered under screed over Christchurch heating systems.
Flats and retirement blocks are the third group. They bring acoustic screed work between floors, and on new blocks a calcium sulphate flow screed is often specified.
Across all three, adapting a home for easier living often means a new floor: level access, a wet room with a sloped screed to the drain, or filling an old sunken floor to take out a step. Sometimes the slab is solid and simply out of true, and then a skim of levelling compound can be the whole answer.
Homes in Christchurch at a glance
Of the 22,283 households in Christchurch, 41% live in detached houses and 21% in flats. The largest share of its housing, 35%, was built between 1945 and 1972, and 33% between 1973 and 1999.
| Homes in Christchurch | Share |
|---|---|
| Detached houses | 41% |
| Semi-detached houses | 20% |
| Terraced houses | 17% |
| Flats | 21% |
| Built before 1919 | 7% |
| Built 1919 to 1944 | 12% |
| Built 1945 to 1972 | 35% |
| Built 1973 to 1999 | 33% |
| Built since 2000 | 12% |
House types from Census 2021 (table TS044); building age from the Valuation Office Agency council tax stock of properties, 31 March 2026 (table CTSOP 4.1). Figures cover the Christchurch (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) built-up area (E63006696).
Screeding services in Christchurch
- Liquid ScreedOpen-plan extensions on Christchurch's 1970s to 1990s homes suit pumped liquid screed: flat, dense, walkable in 24 to 48 hours.
- Sand and Cement ScreedRelaying damp older floors near Portfield and the harbour, wet room falls, level access: sand and cement screed in Christchurch.
- Underfloor Heating ScreedScreed over wet underfloor heating in Christchurch extensions, flats and renovations, with the right pipe cover and heat-up plan.
- Anhydrite & Flow ScreedRetirement blocks and new flats in Christchurch: anhydrite flow screed poured to CA-C20-F4, CA-C25-F5 or CA-C30-F6 as drawn.
- Floor LevellingLevelling uneven floors in Christchurch homes and Hurn airport workshops before LVT, vinyl and tiles, to SR1 or SR2.
- Latex ScreedSmoothing ply-boarded timber, firm quarry tiles and patchy slabs in Christchurch: latex screed a few mm thick for lino or carpet.
- Concrete Floor GrindingHangar, workshop and warehouse slabs at Hurn, plus extension joins in Christchurch homes, cut back by diamond grinding, dust extracted.
We also offer fibre reinforced screed, quick drying screed, high strength screed, bonded screed, floor preparation, screed repairs, concrete floor repair, screed pumping, insulation & membranes, commercial screeding and residential screeding in Christchurch.
Damp, access and timing a pour in Christchurch
Christchurch grew up where the Avon and Stour meet Christchurch Harbour, around the priory begun in 1094. Near the harbour and the river floodplains, damp belongs in the floor plan from the start. In practice a floor close to the water wants an intact membrane below it and a screed that can live with moisture. Calcium sulphate does not belong anywhere a floor might get wet, so cement based material is the safer pick there.
Timing depends on the build. We pour after the glazing and outer doors are in, the plasterers have finished their wet work and the heating installer has pressure tested any pipework. It then needs drying time before flooring, so plan the fitter after the screed and not before.
For a pumped pour, the truck needs space within a hose run of the door. Whether the house is in Mudeford, Stanpit, Somerford, Burton or Purewell, tell us about parking, drive width and the route to the room when you ask for a price.
Commercial floors are a different scale. The industrial park at Bournemouth Airport, at Hurn within the former Christchurch borough, has hangars, workshops and warehouses where heavy duty screeds and floor repairs are the usual need; see our commercial screeding service.
Screeding prices for Christchurch floors
Sand and cement £18 to £25 per m², liquid £24 to £31 per m², supplied and laid (MyJobQuote, August 2026). MyJobQuote does not say whether these figures include VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide.
Who lays your floor screed in Christchurch
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.
Reaching Christchurch
Christchurch is about 73.8 miles south-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including BH23. The nearest towns to it are Bournemouth (4.3 miles), New Milton (5.6 miles), Ferndown (6.4 miles) and Ringwood (7.5 miles). Neighbourhoods we cover in Christchurch include Burton, Fairmile, Friars Cliff, Highcliffe and Jumpers Common.
See our screeding services for every screed type we lay.
