Latex over old tiles and timber in Hertford
The name causes confusion. A latex screed is a levelling compound in two parts: a cement based powder and a latex liquid, mixed together where other compounds would use water. The latex makes the cured layer slightly flexible and helps it hold onto difficult surfaces. It is laid thin, usually a few millimetres, over a base that is already sound.
In Hertford that base varies with the age of the house. Period terraces and cottages sit near the centre, while 10% of homes date from between the wars and many more from the post-war decades. A refit in any of them can uncover quarry or ceramic tiles still well stuck, a concrete floor worn uneven, or old adhesive left behind by vinyl.
Converted flats, 3% of the town's homes, can bring a particular case: upper floors on timber joists, where a new kitchen or bathroom calls for sheet vinyl or LVT. Bare boards are never latexed directly. The boards are fixed down, overboarded with flooring grade plywood screwed at close centres, and only then does the latex go on.
Priming is matched to the base. Tiles are degreased and primed with a product for non porous surfaces, cement screed and concrete get a primer that controls suction, and a calcium sulphate screed has its laitance removed and is always primed before latex. A ground floor is checked for damp before anything is mixed, because latex will not hold back moisture rising from below.
Finishes and limits for Hertford latex floors
Thin, flexible finishes are what latex is for. Sheet vinyl, LVT, safety flooring in a utility or cloakroom, lino and rubber all telegraph whatever lies beneath them, so an old grout line or a trowel ridge comes back as a visible line within weeks. Carpet hides more, though a smooth base still helps it wear evenly.
Some floors should not get latex at all. A timber floor that bounces will crack it, so the structure must be stiffened first. A solid floor without a membrane, as found in the period cottages near the centre, pushes damp up into the compound and lifts the finish; that floor usually needs digging out and relaying, as our sand and cement page explains. A floor badly out of level needs more than a few millimetres can give: a new screed for a large fall, or deeper self levelling compound for shallower hollows.
Where the base is sound but scruffy, preparation makes the difference. Loose tiles come up, hollow screed is cut out and paint or loose adhesive is taken off; see concrete floor grinding in Hertford for that stage.
How we price latex screed in Hertford
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 Hertford
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 Hertford
Hertford is about 30.5 miles north-east of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including SG14 and SG13. The nearest towns to it are Ware (2.2 miles), Hoddesdon (3.8 miles), Welwyn Garden City (5.6 miles) and Hatfield (6.5 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
