Latex in Leatherhead kitchens, bathrooms and converted flats
The name puts people off, but latex screed is simply a two part levelling product. A cement based powder is mixed with a latex liquid in place of water. It is spread over a base that is already sound, typically a few millimetres thick, to give thin floor coverings a smooth face.
In a flat converted from a house, the floor is often timber joists and boards, sometimes with years of old coverings on top. Latex never goes straight onto those boards: they shift with the seasons and would crack a thin coat along every joint. The boards are fixed down firmly, flooring grade plywood is screwed over them, and the latex is laid onto the plywood to hide the sheet joins and screw heads.
Kitchen refits bring a different base. Lift the old units and you may find ceramic or quarry tiles under one half of the room and bare concrete under the other. Provided every tile is firmly bonded, a primed latex coat can cover the lot and give sheet vinyl or lino an even face.
Old adhesive is assessed piece by piece. Sound, hard residue may stay under the right primer; anything soft or flaking is taken off, and diamond grinding of old glue is the cleanest way to do that. Whether the address is on Kingston Road, Cleeve Road or Copthorne Road, the base gets the same checks before any latex is mixed.
Leatherhead floors where latex is not the answer
Terraced houses make up 13% of Leatherhead's homes, and in a terrace, as in any house, the temptation at refit time is to skim straight over whatever is there. Latex is not built for that.
It does not cure damp. Some older Leatherhead homes can have solid floors with no damp proof membrane at all, and a latex coat with vinyl on top simply traps the moisture until the bond fails. We test first, and a damp floor is broken out and rebuilt instead.
It does not stiffen a floor. Boards that bounce need the carpenter before the plywood goes down, or the latex will crack along the lines of the joists.
Nor will it correct a floor that is well out of level. A room that drops noticeably from one side to the other needs a deeper product or a new screed, and the levelling compound guide for Leatherhead explains how we judge that. Patches of broken screed are cut out and made good under screed repairs first.
Priming follows the base. Plywood, concrete, sand and cement and old tiles each have their own primer. Newer apartment floors are often calcium sulphate, and those always have the laitance sanded off and a compatible primer applied before latex. About 7.6 miles away, Weybridge has latex screed for Weybridge homes.
How we price latex screed in Leatherhead
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 Leatherhead
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 Leatherhead
Leatherhead is about 21.2 miles south-east of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including KT22 and KT21. The nearest towns to it are Epsom (3.8 miles), Dorking (4.4 miles), Ewell (5.1 miles) and Reigate (6.8 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.