Latex over tiles and plywood in Clacton-on-Sea refits
Latex screed takes its name from the liquid half of the pack. The cement based powder is stirred into a latex liquid rather than water, and the mix goes down thin, normally a few millimetres. Its job is to smooth a sound floor, not to rebuild one.
Old tiles are a common starting point. Lift the units out of an older kitchen and there may be quarry or ceramic tiles underneath that are still firmly stuck. They can usually stay. Each is tapped for hollow spots, loose ones come up and the holes are filled, grease and polish are cleaned off, and a primer suited to a glazed face goes on before the latex covers grout lines and chips.
Timber is the other. Bare floorboards are never a base for latex, because each board moves on its joists and the layer would crack along every gap. They are screwed down first and covered with flooring grade plywood fixed at close centres, and the latex goes over the plywood. Converted flats in the seafront Victorian and Edwardian houses often have uneven timber, so this sequence matters there.
Thin, hard remains of old vinyl adhesive can sometimes be covered as well. Soft or patchy residue comes off first.
Homes built between 1919 and 1944 make up 18% of Clacton's housing, and a refit in a house of that age can uncover several earlier floors laid one over another, each checked before anything new goes down. Where the base is plain concrete that is simply out of flat, the floor levelling page for Clacton covers compound depths and flatness classes.
When latex is wrong for a Clacton-on-Sea floor
Latex hides small faults. It cannot cure big ones, and it is better to know that before the vinyl is bought.
Springy boards are the first warning. If a floor bounces underfoot, the movement will break any thin layer laid over it. The joists or boards need fixing and the floor overboarding before latex is considered.
Damp is the second. Many of the inter-war and 1950s bungalows here have tired concrete floors, and latex does nothing to stop moisture rising through one. A hygrometer reading shows whether a full replacement with insulation and a membrane has to come first. That rebuild is described on our hand-laid screed page for Clacton bungalows.
The third is a floor badly out of level. A few millimetres of latex will not correct a slope or a dip of several centimetres, and laying it thicker than the product allows risks cracking.
Calcium sulphate screed is a special case: its laitance must be removed and the surface primed before any latex goes on, or the layer can let go. Older screeds that are cracked or hollow may need screed repairs first. The same checks apply to latex screed in Colchester.
How we price latex screed in Clacton-on-Sea
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 Clacton-on-Sea
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 Clacton-on-Sea
On the map, Clacton-on-Sea sits east-north-east of Slough, about 79.3 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including CO15 and CO16), next to Colchester (12.9 miles), Maldon (20.8 miles), Witham (22 miles) and Rochford (24 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
