Adding heated floors to Stifford Clays and Little Thurrock semis
The inter-war semis in Stifford Clays and Little Thurrock often have cold, uninsulated ground slabs. Replacing one is the natural time to add underfloor heating, because the floor is already open and insulation is going in anyway. The build-up, from the bottom, is usually membrane, insulation, edge strip, the heating pipes clipped down, then screed.
How deep the screed sits over the pipes is fixed, not a matter of taste. Pour liquid and at least 25mm has to sit above the pipes, so the layer comes to 45 to 50mm overall. Hand-laid, roughly 45mm of cover is needed, which makes the floor thicker. In an older house the height between the dug-out ground and the existing thresholds often decides the choice, and liquid's thinner section is frequently the answer.
The other job we pour over heating is an extension. A heated extension opened into a kitchen gets the benefit of a floor that warms the whole room evenly, and a pumped screed encases every pipe with no air pockets, which helps it warm up faster. How the hose gets from the street into a Grays extension is covered under liquid screed pumping in Grays.
Flats in the town centre can take heating too, though the build-up has to allow for acoustic layers between floors.
Insulation, membrane and edge strip are checked before anything is poured, and if they are not there we can supply and fit them. We do not install the pipes, manifold or controls; your heating engineer does, and should pressure test the system before we arrive.
Heat-up schedule for a new Grays heated floor
The first few weeks decide whether a heated floor stays sound. Switching the heating to full on a fresh screed can crack it, so the system is brought up gradually.
Timing depends on the material. Calcium sulphate normally lets the heating run from about day 7, and the warmth then speeds its drying. Sand and cement has to go 21 days or more without any heat. From there the flow temperature climbs in small steps over several days, sits at working temperature, then drops back before the flooring goes down.
We give that schedule in writing, so your installer and you follow the same plan, and we note the date of the pour and the screed type so the timings are clear. The screed drying time guide explains what is happening in the floor while it dries.
Where a heated room will also be a wet room or bathroom, calcium sulphate is not suitable, and a cement based screed is used instead. That option is set out under sand and cement screed over pipes.
Underfloor Heating Screed prices in Grays
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 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.
Underfloor Heating 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 underfloor heating screed, part of our screeding services.