Latex over old floors in Letchworth cottages and terraces
Two parts make a latex screed: a cement based powder and a latex liquid used in place of water. Once mixed and spread, it cures to a thin, slightly flexible layer, normally just a few millimetres thick, that grips the surface below. That grip is why floor layers reach for it on awkward bases.
An early garden city cottage or inter-war terrace getting a new kitchen or bathroom is a typical candidate, with one catch. Many of these solid floors went down before damp proof membranes were normal, and latex does nothing to stop moisture rising. A sheet finish such as vinyl or lino traps that moisture, which can loosen the adhesive or leave a damp smell. So before any latex goes down, we test the floor. If it is damp, the honest answer may be breaking the floor out and laying a new sand and cement floor with a membrane, not a thin skim.
Where the floor is dry and sound, latex is a neat fix. Old quarry tiles that are still bonded hard can be cleaned, keyed and primed, then covered rather than chiselled up. Concrete patched over the years, with old adhesive tracks and filled chases from rewiring, can be smoothed in one pass once any loose material has been scraped back. Upstairs, timber floors are overboarded with flooring grade plywood first, because latex should never go straight onto boards.
Kitchen refits on the Grange estate and Manor Park
Semi-detached houses make up 25% of Letchworth's homes. On the post-war estates, a kitchen refit is a typical reason to look at the floor, and when an old kitchen is pulled out the floor underneath tends to be a patchwork: tiles where the units stood, vinyl adhesive across the open floor, and perhaps a strip of newer concrete where a wall came out. Each part needs a primer suited to it, and a calcium sulphate screed, if there is one, has its laitance sanded off and is primed before latex touches it.
Latex has limits worth knowing before the kitchen fitter is booked. It does not stiffen boards that spring underfoot, it does not cure damp, and it is not meant to fill a floor that drops away by a large amount across the room. Those floors need repair, overboarding or a new screed first. For bigger dips across a whole floor, our floor levelling service in Letchworth sets out the deeper options, and stripping thick adhesive is covered by our floor preparation work.
The whole of SG6 is covered, Norton and Willian included. For towns close by, see latex screed in Hitchin.
How we price latex screed in Letchworth
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 Letchworth
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 Letchworth
On the map, Letchworth sits north-north-east of Slough, about 35.5 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including SG6), next to Baldock (2 miles), Stotfold (2.7 miles), Hitchin (2.9 miles) and Stevenage (5.3 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
