Awkward bases under Melksham kitchens and bathrooms
Latex screed is not a screed in the usual sense. It is a cement based powder mixed with a latex liquid and spread a few millimetres thick, and the latex is what lets it hold onto bases that a water mixed compound would not suit. That makes it a sensible choice when a kitchen or bathroom in an older Melksham house is stripped back and the floor underneath turns out to be a patchwork.
Homes built between 1919 and 1944 are 9% of the town's stock, and a house of that age or older may have suspended timber in one room and a solid floor in the next. Latex never goes straight onto bare floorboards. The boards are screwed down, split ones replaced, and flooring grade plywood is fixed over them first; the latex then goes onto the plywood and gives sheet vinyl or LVT a smooth face with no board joints showing through.
Old quarry and ceramic tiles are the other common find under a lifted floor. If every tile is firmly bonded, they can stay: the glaze is cleaned, the right primer goes on and latex is laid over the top to hide grout lines. Hollow or cracked tiles come up first, because a thin layer is only ever as sound as what it sits on.
Uneven older concrete and some sound old adhesive can also take latex once primed. Where adhesive is thick or soft, or floor paint is in the way, grinding the slab back comes before any mixing.
When latex is the wrong answer in Melksham
Latex smooths a floor. It does not repair one, and three problems rule it out until they are put right.
The first is movement. A timber floor that bounces underfoot will crack a thin latex layer whatever product is used. Springy boards need extra fixings, packing or new noggins, then an overboard, before anything else happens.
The second is damp. Latex does not cure it or hold it back, so a ground floor showing a high reading needs the cause found first. An old solid floor without a working membrane may be better dug out and rebuilt, as the Melksham sand and cement page explains.
The third is a floor badly out of level. A layer a few millimetres thick cannot take out a slope across a room or a deep hollow by a doorway. Bringing that back needs a new screed or a deeper levelling product first, and levelling floors in Melksham covers how much each can take.
Primers deserve attention too. Plywood, glazed tile, sand and cement and calcium sulphate each need their own, and a calcium sulphate screed always has its laitance sanded off and a primer applied before latex goes on. Get those steps right and the finish has a base it can stay stuck to, whether the house is in Berryfield, Melksham Forest or the middle of town.
How we price latex screed in Melksham
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 Melksham
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 Melksham
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 65.4 miles from Melksham, which lies to the west. Postcodes here include SN12, and Corsham (4.7 miles), Trowbridge (4.7 miles), Chippenham (6 miles) and Devizes (6.3 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.