Overboarded floors and old tiles in Halstead homes
Latex screed takes its name from the liquid half of the pack. A cement based powder is mixed with a latex emulsion rather than with water, and the result bonds hard to the surface below, stays slightly flexible and can be spread out a few millimetres thick. It is a finishing layer, not a structural one, so it only ever goes over a base that is already firm.
Halstead's older houses throw up several bases that suit it. In a Victorian terrace or an old cottage, the upstairs bathroom usually sits on a timber floor. Bare boards flex and shrink, so latex never goes straight onto them. Instead the boards are screwed down, then overboarded with flooring grade plywood fixed at close centres, and the latex goes over the plywood to hide its joints and screw heads.
Downstairs, a kitchen refit often uncovers quarry or ceramic tiles from an earlier life. If every tile is stuck fast and the floor is dry, there is no need to break them out: they are cleaned, primed for a non-porous surface and skimmed. Patchy older concrete with shallow dips can be handled the same way, and so can thin, well bonded old adhesive once any loose crust has been scraped off. Thick black glue or floor paint is better removed first, and grinding back old adhesive does that under dust extraction.
The finishes that need this smoothing most are the thin ones. Sheet vinyl, lino, rubber and the slip resistant safety flooring chosen for bathrooms show every ridge beneath them, LVT picks out board joints, and even carpet wears unevenly over a stepped base.
Damp, springy boards and other Halstead warning signs
Latex is a thin coat, and it inherits every fault below it. Before pricing a Halstead room we check three things.
Movement comes first. Boards that bounce underfoot will crack any compound laid over them, so loose boards or tired joists have to be put right and the floor overboarded before latex is even considered.
Damp is second. Plenty of older solid floors in the town went down without a membrane, and latex does nothing to stop moisture rising through them. A floor that reads damp needs taking up and relaying, often as a new sand and cement floor, not a skim.
Level is third. Latex corrects small dips and steps, not a floor that falls away across the room. Where the error is larger, our Halstead floor levelling page explains when a deeper compound or a fresh screed is the right step.
The primer then depends on the base: plywood, old tiles, concrete and sand and cement each get a product made for them. A calcium sulphate screed, the kind poured in many newer homes, always has its laitance sanded off and is always primed before latex touches it.
Whether the house is in Cobbs Fenn, Braintree Corner or the historic streets of the centre, those checks come first, and you hear the result before any price is fixed. For a home outside the town, see latex screed in Great Dunmow.
How we price latex screed in Halstead
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 Halstead
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 Halstead
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 61.8 miles from Halstead, which lies to the east-north-east. Postcodes here include CO9, and Braintree (5.7 miles), Sudbury (7.8 miles), Witham (10 miles) and Colchester (12 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.