Overboarding old timber in Lexden and the Dutch Quarter
Suspended timber floors are where latex shows why it is sold as a separate product. Ordinary levelling compound is mixed with water and sets rigid. Latex screed comes as two parts: a cement based powder and a container of latex liquid that replaces the water. It is the compound the trade uses over plywood overboarding, firmly bonded tiles and uneven concrete.
It never goes straight onto bare boards, though. Old boards in a period house cup, shrink and move as people walk on them, and a few millimetres of anything will crack above each joint. The sequence is to screw the boards down, replace any that are split or rotten, then cover the floor with flooring grade plywood fixed at close centres. Only then is the plywood primed and the latex spread, usually just a few millimetres thick.
Plywood and latex together raise the floor a little, so door thresholds and the meeting point with the next room are checked before the boards go down.
Period homes are not the only ones with timber floors. Upstairs rooms in houses of every age are usually boarded, and the same overboarding applies before latex goes on there. Where the timber is beyond saving and the floor is being dug out instead, the solid replacement is covered under hand-laid floors for Colchester homes.
Tiles, adhesive and damp checks in Colchester kitchens
Kitchen and bathroom refits often expose old quarry or ceramic tiles. Terraced houses make up 21% of Colchester's homes, and a narrow terrace kitchen with a tiled floor is a typical place for latex. If the tiles are firmly bonded, they can stay. Each one is checked for hollowness, loose tiles are lifted and the gaps filled, and the glaze is cleaned and keyed before a primer made for tiles goes on. Latex then fills the grout lines and gives sheet vinyl, rubber or safety flooring a flat face.
Thin, hard remains of old adhesive can sometimes be covered the same way. Soft, tacky or patchy residue has to come off first, and grinding is the usual method; see concrete floor grinding in Colchester.
Damp needs checking on any solid floor, especially in older houses where there may be no membrane. Latex is not a damp barrier, and moisture trapped below vinyl will lift it. A hygrometer test decides whether the floor is dry enough or needs treating first.
Any calcium sulphate screed has its laitance removed and is primed with a product made for it before latex goes on.
Latex cannot rescue a floor that is badly out of level either. Compound depths and SR classes are compared on our floor levelling page.
How we price latex screed in Colchester
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 Colchester
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 Colchester
On the map, Colchester sits east-north-east of Slough, about 70.8 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including CO1, CO3, CO2 and CO4), next to Halstead (12 miles), Sudbury (12.6 miles), Witham (12.7 miles) and Clacton-on-Sea (12.9 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.