Rebuilding old solid floors near Oakham's Market Place
About 10% of Oakham's homes were built before 1919, and their floors need checking before any new finish goes down. A house of that age commonly has a ground floor laid straight onto the earth or onto a thin slab, with nothing to stop damp rising through it. Signs of trouble include lifting tiles, powdery patches and a floor that feels cold and damp.
The cure is a proper rebuild. We break out and cart away the old floor, lay a fresh base, add insulation and the membrane that keeps damp out, and screed over the top in sand and cement. Floating on insulation, a house screed needs to be about 65mm, and the whole build-up must still sit below the existing door thresholds, which takes careful measuring in an old property. That layer is part of our insulation and membranes work.
Terraced houses make up 21% of Oakham's homes. In a narrow terrace, rooms are often small and separated by thick walls, and a hand-laid screed can be mixed in batches and barrowed through the house without needing a pump outside.
Expect it to dry more slowly than liquid: the first 40mm takes around 40 days, and depth beyond that takes longer again. Allow for that before booking the flooring fitter. If the fitter is booked in tight, a quick drying screed is worth asking about.
Wet rooms, garages and bonded floors in Oakham
Certain rooms call for cement screed in a new Barleythorpe house just as much as in an old one off Northgate. Falls to the drain in a level-access shower or wet room are shaped in sand and cement with a trowel, a mix that copes with water where calcium sulphate would not.
A garage conversion raises a similar question of levels. Garage slabs usually sit lower than the house, so the converted room is brought up to hallway level with insulation, a membrane and then screed. Read the garage conversion floor guide before you plan the depth.
Not every floor is floating. Where a sound concrete slab only needs a thinner topping, a bonded screed of 25 to 40mm is fixed directly to it after the surface is prepared. Floating screeds, laid over insulation, need the full thickness to stay strong.
A hand-laid floor also takes load earlier than some alternatives, which helps when a workshop floor or a kitchen needs to be back in use. Where extra strength is needed against cracking, fibres can be added to the mix at modest cost.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in Oakham
Sand and cement screed: £18 to £25 per m² supplied and laid (MyJobQuote, August 2026), so £450 to £630 for 25 m². MyJobQuote does not say whether these figures include VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide or screed calculator.
Who lays your sand and cement screed in Oakham
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.
Sand and Cement Screed from Slough to Oakham
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 78.7 miles from Oakham, which lies to the north. Postcodes here include LE15, and Stamford (10.5 miles), Corby (12.6 miles), Market Harborough (15.5 miles) and Desborough (16.2 miles) are close by.
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.
