Awkward bases in Englefield Green and older Egham
Ask a flooring fitter for latex and you are asking for a two part compound. One part is a cement based powder; the other is a latex liquid that replaces the water a normal compound would be mixed with. Spread a few millimetres thick, it gives a sound but rough base the smooth face that thin coverings need.
The bases it suits are the awkward ones. Timber floors come first. Boards are never coated directly, because they move with the seasons and would crack the layer along every joint. Instead they are screwed down and overboarded with flooring grade plywood, and the latex fills the sheet joints and fixings. Old quarry or ceramic tiles are another good candidate, provided every tile is still firmly stuck; a hollow one is lifted and the gap filled. Uneven older concrete and thin, sound adhesive left from a previous floor complete the list.
In a period house there, a single ground floor may combine several of these, perhaps a tiled kitchen beside a boarded hall. Latex lets them meet at one level before the new covering runs through.
The finishes that benefit are the thin, flexible ones: vinyl sheet, LVT, lino, rubber, safety flooring and carpet. They follow every ripple underneath, so a cheap covering laid on a smooth base often looks better than a costly one laid on a rough base.
Homes built between 1919 and 1944 account for 13% of Egham's housing, and floors of that age often carry ridges of old patching. Wherever a floor of any age has a raised ridge or an old coating, grinding the surface clean comes before the primer.
Damp, springy boards and primers in Egham
Across the town, from Thorpe Lea to Egham Hythe, the same base rules apply in every kind of home. Converted flats are only 3% of Egham's homes, but where a house has been split, the upper flat usually sits on a timber floor that needs plywood before latex.
Three conditions rule latex out. A damp base is the first: older Egham ground floors laid without a membrane can push moisture into anything laid on them, and latex will not stop it. A springy timber floor is the second, since flexing boards crack the coat. The third is a floor too far out of level for a few millimetres to correct. Each of those is put right first, by relaying, refixing or screeding, and our repairs to damaged screed cover damaged patches.
Priming depends on the base. Plywood, tiles, concrete and old adhesive each take a specific primer. Newer Egham homes may have a calcium sulphate screed, which always has its laitance sanded off and is primed before any latex goes near it.
If the question is a general one about compound against new screed, or which flatness class your covering needs, that is answered on our Egham floor levelling page.
How we price latex screed in Egham
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 Egham
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 Egham
Egham is about 8.1 miles south-south-east of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including TW20, TW18 and GU25. The nearest towns to it are Staines-upon-Thames (1.6 miles), Chertsey (3.4 miles), Ashford (3.8 miles) and Windsor (4.3 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.