Screed over pipework at Bidwell West and Houghton Regis North
On the new streets of Bidwell West and Houghton Regis North, the ground floor is normally an insulated slab with the heating pipes clipped down across it. The screed is what turns that pipework into a working heated floor: it covers the pipes, spreads their heat and gives a flat base for the finish.
Our first measurement is the depth over the pipes. A pumped mix needs at least 25mm above the highest pipe, which normally makes the whole layer roughly 45 to 50mm deep. With a hand-laid mix, allow around 45mm over the pipes. Too thin a cover and the floor may crack along the loops; too thick and a new Bidwell West living room takes longer to warm through.
The second check is encapsulation. A pumped liquid screed over pipework flows round every loop with no air gaps, which is why it is the usual choice on new plots. On a Bidwell West or Houghton Regis North plot we also want to see the loops pressure tested and still pressurised, perimeter edging round every wall and the membrane joints taped before any screed goes in.
Then comes commissioning. A calcium sulphate floor can usually have its first gentle warmth from around day 7, whereas a cement and sand one stays switched off for at least 21 days. In both cases the water temperature goes up gradually, in small steps, rather than straight to full. Our guide to screed drying sets out how heating fits into drying.
Retrofitting heated floors in older Houghton Regis semis
33% of homes in Houghton Regis are semis, and many of them stand on the post-war estates, built long before underfloor heating was usual in houses. Adding underfloor heating to one of those is a different job from a new plot, and floor height is usually the problem.
There is rarely room to lay insulation, pipes and a screed on top of the old floor without creating a step at every doorway. So the old floor normally comes out, and a new one goes back with insulation, pipes and screed finished level with the thresholds. Liquid screed earns its place in that rebuild, as it can cover the pipes with less depth than a hand-laid mix.
A rear extension is often the easier place to start. Its floor is built from scratch, so the heating can be designed in and the new screed finished level with the house. Where old and new meet, the join may need a skim with levelling compound at the threshold before the flooring goes down.
The split of work is simple: pipes laid and tested by your heating engineer, then build-up checked and screed laid by us. Should the floor still lack insulation or a membrane, we can supply and fit insulation and membranes as well.
Underfloor Heating Screed prices in Houghton Regis
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 Houghton Regis
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 Houghton Regis
On the map, Houghton Regis sits north of Slough, about 26.4 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including LU5), next to Dunstable (1.3 miles), Luton (4.7 miles), Leighton Buzzard (6.1 miles) and Flitwick (6.8 miles).
More on underfloor heating screed, part of our screeding services.
