Latex over boards and tiles in Hammersmith and Fulham flats
Latex screed is the trade name for a compound supplied in two parts: a cement based powder and a container of latex liquid, which is stirred in instead of water. The latex leaves the cured layer slightly flexible and helps it hold onto bases that plain compound struggles with. It goes down thin, usually a few millimetres, and its job is to smooth a surface, not to build one up.
In a converted Victorian terrace, the floor under a new kitchen or bathroom is often a run of original timber boards. Latex never goes straight onto bare boards, because each board moves on its own and the joints soon show through as cracks. The boards are screwed down first, then overlaid with flooring grade plywood fixed at close centres. Latex then fills the plywood joints and screw heads and leaves one flat face for vinyl or LVT.
Old ceramic or quarry tiles are the other base that turns up in period kitchens and hallways. If every tile is firmly stuck, latex can usually go over the top once the glaze is cleaned and primed, which saves breaking them out and disturbing whoever lives in the flat below. Any tile that sounds hollow when tapped comes up first.
Thin finishes are the reason for all this care. Sheet vinyl, lino, rubber and safety flooring reveal every board edge and grout line beneath them, and carpet wears faster over ridges. Where the floor has wider dips, the question becomes general levelling rather than latex, and our floor levelling page for the borough covers flatness classes and deeper compound.
When a Shepherd's Bush or Hammersmith floor needs work first
Latex is a finishing layer, so it only works on a base that is already sound, dry and close to level. Three problems rule it out until they are dealt with.
Movement comes first. If boards bounce underfoot, the joists or fixings need attention and the floor needs overboarding before any compound goes down. Latex cannot stiffen a springy floor, and it will crack along the board lines if asked to.
Damp is the second. A solid floor without a working membrane will push moisture up through a thin layer and lift the finish. We take readings first, and if they are high the answer is a membrane and new screed, not latex.
The third is level. When a floor falls away by more than a thin coat can make up, piling on latex leads to cracking and debonding. Taking off high spots can help, and our page on concrete floor grinding in Hammersmith and Fulham explains that step; a floor that dips across the room may need a new screed instead.
Priming is the final check. Concrete, sand and cement, plywood and old tiles each take a primer suited to them, and in a newer flat, a calcium sulphate screed is sanded to take off its laitance and then given a compatible primer before latex touches it. For the same work in a nearby borough, see latex screed in Kensington and Chelsea.
How we price latex screed in Hammersmith and Fulham
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 Hammersmith and Fulham
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 Hammersmith and Fulham
On the map, Hammersmith and Fulham sits east of Slough, about 18.6 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including W6, NW10, W3 and SW6), next to Kensington and Chelsea (1.2 miles), Westminster (2.8 miles), Wandsworth (3.7 miles) and Brent (4.3 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
