Rebuilding cold ground floors in Little Thurrock
The job normally starts with the old slab. In an inter-war semi it is often cold and uninsulated. With the old slab out and the ground made ready, we lay a damp proof membrane and insulation and then screed over them.
On insulation it floats, and in a house it goes down no thinner than 65mm. That depth gives it strength without a bond to the base. If the old concrete is solid and just the top is tired, we can bond 25 to 40mm straight onto it, which keeps doors and thresholds where they are. The bonded screed page covers that method.
Older houses raise the same questions. Homes built before 1919 are 14% of the stock in Grays, and an original floor in a house of that age may need the same rebuild.
Sand and cement has a practical advantage in these rooms: it is mixed to the depth each area needs. A hallway that falls towards the front door, a floor with an old chimney breast, or a room that meets an extension at a different level can all be handled as the screed is laid.
The recipe can be changed too. Fibres add crack resistance for about £1 to £3 per m² on published figures, and rapid drying additives speed things up where flooring must follow quickly. For depths by room and use, see the screed thickness guide.
Wet rooms, garages and terraces in Grays
Terraced houses are 24% of homes in Grays. Without side access, everything for a terrace floor has to come through the house, and a hand-laid screed suits that because it can be barrowed in small batches.
Wet rooms are a strong case for sand and cement. Cement based screed can be used where water will reach the floor, unlike calcium sulphate, and falls to a drain are shaped by hand as it is laid.
A garage conversion in a Grays house raises its own problem. Garage slabs often sit below the house and run down to the door, so the screed has to make up the difference. Our guide to garage floor screed walks through the layers.
The cost is time. A hand-laid floor dries more slowly than a pumped one, at roughly a millimetre per day through the first 40mm, then more slowly still. If a quicker floor matters more than a hand finish, look at the pumped liquid screed option page, which explains where each method fits and how much thinner a flowing floor can be over insulation.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in Grays
Sand and cement screed: £18 to £25 per m² supplied and laid (MyJobQuote, August 2026), so £450 to £630 for 25 m². MyJobQuote does not say whether these figures include VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide or screed calculator.
Who lays your sand and cement screed in Grays
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.
Sand and Cement Screed from Slough to Grays
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 42 miles from Grays, which lies to the east. Postcodes here include RM17 and RM18, and Tilbury (2 miles), Swanscombe (2.6 miles), Northfleet (2.9 miles) and Gravesend (3.2 miles) are close by.
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.