Heated screeds on Ely's post-2000 estates
Homes built between 2000 and 2014 make up 28% of Ely, and a further 10% have gone up since 2015. Houses of this age are the likeliest candidates for a heated screed, and the homes planned at Orchards Green will add more. Heated floors are also an option when an older Ely home gains a kitchen extension or garden room.
Whichever screed is used, the numbers over the pipes matter. Pumped screed wants 25mm or more over the pipes, normally finishing 45 to 50mm deep overall. It flows around every pipe with no air pockets, heats up quickly and spreads warmth evenly. Hand-laid sand and cement takes around 45mm over the pipes and has to be packed in tightly around them so no voids are left.
On a new-build plot the sequence runs: insulation and edge strip, pipes fixed by the heating engineer, a pressure test, then the pour. Insulation, membrane and edge strip are all looked over before pouring, and anything missing can come from us.
Snagging is a separate issue. Developer floors on newer estates sometimes need repair after handover, such as cracked or hollow patches, and those are covered on our screed repairs page. For the thickness figures in more depth, see the guide to screed thickness. Once dry, a heated screed laid at the right depth is flat enough for tiles, LVT and engineered wood.
First heat-up for an Ely underfloor heating floor
Screed and heating are brought together slowly. On calcium sulphate, heat can go on from about 7 days. With sand and cement it is 21 days before any heat. Commissioning then starts at a low water temperature, rises in small daily steps, holds, and is brought back down before flooring. We hand over this schedule in writing.
Retrofitting heat into an older Ely house is a height problem. A floor near the cathedral or Waterside may have no membrane and limited depth before it meets thresholds and skirting, and listed status can rule out digging down. Pumped screed needs a thinner layer over the pipes than a hand-laid mix, which helps, though the insulation underneath still takes up room. So the old floor gets looked at first, and only then do we say what will fit.
In 1970s to 1990s detached homes being extended, the heated extension floor has to match the old floor's level exactly. Planning the slab height with the builder before it is cast avoids a step later. For large open heated rooms, pumped liquid screed is the usual partner. For a heated floor south of Ely, see underfloor heating screed in Cambridge.
Underfloor Heating Screed prices in Ely
Liquid screed over underfloor heating: £20 to £35 per m² supplied and laid (trade2base, June 2026), so £700 to £1,230 for 35 m². trade2base gives these figures excluding VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide or screed calculator.
Who lays your underfloor heating screed in Ely
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.
Underfloor Heating Screed from Slough to Ely
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 71.4 miles from Ely, which lies to the north-north-east. Postcodes here include CB7, and Soham (5.7 miles), Chatteris (9.9 miles), Newmarket (12.4 miles) and March (12.6 miles) are close by.
More on underfloor heating screed, part of our screeding services.