Pipe cover and floor depth for Hinckley heated floors
Pipes on their own are not a heated floor; the screed over them is what makes the system work. That layer carries heat across the room, shields the pipework and leaves a firm, flat base for the flooring. Skimp on the cover and cracks can open along the pipe runs; overdo it and the room takes a long time to warm.
Over the pipes we leave at least 25mm of liquid screed, so the floor usually ends up 45 to 50mm deep in total. Sand and cement has to be about 45mm over the pipes, so that floor ends up deeper. In the newer homes on the edges of Burbage, which suit liquid screed over wet heating pipes, that choice is normally made at the drawing stage. In an older Hinckley house being retrofitted, the lower depth of a pumped liquid screed is often what makes heating possible at all without changing door heights or the step into the garden.
Fitting the circuit and pressure testing it is down to your heating engineer, as pipe installation is not something K & B offers; we come in afterwards to screed over it. Before the pour we check the insulation, the edge strip round the walls and the membrane, because gaps there cause cracks and heat loss later. If any of that build-up is missing, our insulation and membrane service can supply and fit it.
Heated garden rooms and single storey extensions follow the same rules on a smaller scale, and the pour is usually done in one day.
Commissioning heating in new Hinckley and Burbage homes
The heating must not be used to rush a new screed. Gentle heat can usually go into a calcium sulphate floor once about 7 days have passed since the pour. Sand and cement needs a minimum of 21 days before the system is switched on.
After that, the warm-up is gradual. The water temperature starts low and rises in small steps over several days, then is held while the floor dries, and is brought down again before any moisture test. Commissioning like this lets the screed dry evenly rather than cracking under a sudden change in temperature. That schedule is written down and handed over, so the builder, the heating engineer and you all work from one plan.
Flooring comes last. Tiles, LVT and engineered wood each have their own moisture limit, and a heated floor still has to pass a test before they go down. The timescales are covered in more depth in screed drying times explained.
Where a heated extension is going in alongside wet areas such as a utility or shower room, a hand-laid sand and cement screed may suit those rooms better, and the two can be planned together.
Underfloor Heating Screed prices in Hinckley
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 Hinckley
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 Hinckley
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 76.3 miles from Hinckley, which lies to the north-north-west. Postcodes here include LE10, and Earl Shilton (3.4 miles), Nuneaton (4.2 miles), Bedworth (6 miles) and Lutterworth (9.5 miles) are close by.
More on underfloor heating screed, part of our screeding services.
