Heated floors in Stratford and Royal Docks flats
In Newham, 44% of homes are purpose-built flats, and in the newer towers of Stratford, Canning Town and the Royal Docks a heated floor is built in layers: the structural slab, an acoustic mat, insulation, heating pipes and finally a floating screed. Each layer affects the next. The screed must not touch the walls or reach the slab through a gap in the mat, because either one carries sound to the flat below, so edge strip and taped joints are checked before any pour.
A pumped screed wants 25mm or more sitting on top of the pipes, which works out at roughly 45 to 50mm overall. With a site mixed sand and cement floor the cover rises to around 45mm, adding depth and weight to the whole build. Where a design fixes the floor height, liquid screed is usually the answer, and because it flows fully round each pipe there are no air pockets to slow heat transfer. Our liquid screed page for Newham covers how it is pumped to upper floors.
Pipes should be filled with water and pressure tested before the screed arrives, and left under pressure during the pour so a leak shows straight away. The insulation and membrane under them need to be continuous. If they are not already in place we can supply them, as described on our insulation and membranes service. In a flat, the acoustic specification sets part of the build up, so have it to hand when you ask for a price.
Retrofitting heat in older Newham houses
Many heated floors in Newham go into the borough's older terraced houses rather than new flats, and the work there is quite different. The usual chance is a rear extension or a ground floor refit, and the limit is height: the finished floor has to meet the existing hall and doorways, so there is rarely room for a deep build up.
That is where cover depth matters. A liquid screed over the pipes can be thinner than sand and cement, which helps keep the new floor level with the old. Where the ground floor is being dug out anyway, digging a little deeper makes room for proper insulation, which stops the heat going into the ground.
When the system can first be switched on depends on what was poured. With calcium sulphate under the tiles, low heat can usually start around day 7, whereas sand and cement keeps the heating off for at least 21 days. The engineer then lifts the water temperature a little at a time across several days, in line with the pipe maker's commissioning schedule. Our screed drying guide explains how that warm up also helps the floor dry.
Underfloor Heating Screed prices in Newham
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 Newham
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 Newham
Newham is about 29.3 miles east of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including E6, E16, E7 and E12. The nearest towns to it are Tower Hamlets (3.2 miles), Greenwich (3.7 miles), Barking and Dagenham (4 miles) and Redbridge (4.1 miles).
More on underfloor heating screed, part of our screeding services.
