Awkward bases in Harpenden kitchens and bathrooms
Strip out a kitchen in a Harpenden house built after the war and the floor beneath rarely matches what the new finish expects. One corner has ceramic tiles, another the stain of an old vinyl, and where a wall or larder was removed there is a strip of patched concrete. Latex is made for this kind of mixed ground.
The latex liquid takes the place of water in the mix. As a result the cured layer bonds hard to dense surfaces, flexes slightly without cracking and can be feathered out to almost nothing at its edges. Firmly fixed ceramic or quarry tiles can stay where they are: we clean them, tap every tile for hollowness, refix or fill any loose ones, prime and lay over the top. Old adhesive that is thin, hard and well stuck can usually stay too once primed, while soft or flaking residue is stripped first.
Upstairs bathrooms are often on timber. Latex never goes straight onto floorboards, because boards move and their joints open. Flooring grade plywood is screwed down over them first, and the latex follows on the plywood, giving a smooth face for sheet vinyl or safety flooring around a shower.
Where the old floor is plain but rough concrete, latex smooths it ready for LVT. When the concrete is out by more than a few millimetres, the broader question of compound or new screed is answered on our Harpenden floor levelling page.
When latex is not enough in Harpenden homes
Latex is a finishing layer. It cannot repair the structure beneath it, and three problems send a Harpenden job down a different route.
The first is damp. An old solid floor with no working membrane will push moisture into any thin layer above it, and the latex will let go. We test before quoting, and a damp floor gets a membrane or a new build-up instead.
The second is movement. If timber still flexes after overboarding, the joists or boards need fixing before anything else, or the latex will crack the first time someone crosses it.
The third is level. A floor that is badly out across the room needs a repair or a fresh screed; latex poured deep to fill a big fall is wasteful and prone to cracking. Where an old timber ground floor is coming out altogether, our sand and cement screed work covers the solid floor that replaces it.
The base also decides the primer. Retrofitted heating in Harpenden often goes under a thin liquid screed. If that screed is calcium sulphate, its laitance must be sanded away and a compatible primer applied before latex goes near it. Cement screeds, tiles and plywood each take their own primer.
High spots, ridges and old paint are taken off before we start, using concrete floor grinding where needed.
How we price latex screed in Harpenden
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 Harpenden
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 Harpenden
Harpenden is about 23.2 miles north-north-east of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including AL5 and AL3. The nearest towns to it are St Albans (4.5 miles), Luton (5.1 miles), Welwyn Garden City (6.5 miles) and Hemel Hempstead (6.6 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
