Latex over tiles and boards in Kidlington refits
Latex screed gets its name from the liquid it is mixed with. The powder is cement based, but instead of water it is stirred into a latex emulsion supplied with it, and the result sets to a thin, slightly flexible layer that holds on to dense or smooth surfaces well. It is laid in millimetres, not tens of millimetres, so it is a finishing coat rather than a new floor.
That makes it useful in refits, where the floor under the old covering is rarely a clean slab. A kitchen being replaced in a Kidlington house from the 1970s or 80s may sit on ceramic tiles laid by an earlier owner. If those tiles are bonded hard, cleaning, abrading and priming them lets the latex go straight over, saving the noise and mess of breaking them out.
Upstairs is usually timber. Latex is never laid on bare floorboards, which move with the seasons. The boards are fixed down and covered with flooring grade plywood, and the ply is primed and latexed.
In a terraced house, the type that makes up 19% of Kidlington's homes, a bathroom is often small enough that one mix covers it, and a smooth latex base under safety flooring or sheet vinyl gives the fitter a clean surface to bond to. Old adhesive left after lino comes up can be treated the same way once it has been tested and found sound. We cover Church End, Garden City and the rest of OX5 for this work. For compound choice and flatness classes in general, see Kidlington floor levelling.
Checks before latex goes down in Kidlington
Three questions decide whether latex is right, and we answer them before quoting.
Is the base dry? Latex does not stop damp. The 1920s and 30s houses along what is now the A4260 may have early solid floors laid without a membrane, and a covering over a damp floor will fail whatever goes beneath it. That kind of floor needs a membrane and a new screed, set out on our Kidlington sand and cement page.
Is the base firm? Springy boards, hollow tiles and crumbling patches all crack a thin layer. Boards are screwed down and overboarded, loose tiles come up, and soft concrete is cut out and made good through our screed repairs service.
Is the floor close to level? Latex smooths a surface a few millimetres out. A floor further out than that is brought up with a repair or new screed first.
Then comes the primer, chosen for the base. Concrete, plywood, old tile and calcium sulphate screed each need their own, and calcium sulphate has its laitance sanded away before priming. If a newer Kidlington flat has a calcium sulphate floor, our anhydrite flow screed page explains that material and its moisture limits.
How we price latex screed in Kidlington
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 Kidlington
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 Kidlington
Kidlington is about 34.1 miles north-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including OX5. The nearest towns to it are Oxford (5 miles), Bicester (7.8 miles), Witney (8.8 miles) and Abingdon-on-Thames (10.5 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
