Latex bases for Oxford flats and refitted kitchens
Ask a flooring fitter in Oxford for a smooth floor and the answer is often latex. The trade uses the word for a levelling compound in two parts: a bag of cement based powder and a container of latex liquid, mixed together on site instead of with water. Laid a few millimetres thick, it dries to a tough skin with a little give, and it holds onto smooth and dense surfaces that a water mixed compound may let go of.
Timber floors are the classic case. In a flat carved out of an older house, or an upstairs bathroom anywhere in the city, the boards are first screwed tight, then covered with flooring grade plywood, and only then primed and latexed. Laid directly over bare boards, latex cracks as they move.
Old tiles come next. Wherever a kitchen refit uncovers quarry or ceramic tiles that are still firmly bonded, they can stay: degreased, abraded, primed and latexed, rather than broken out with all the dust and noise that brings to a house with neighbours through the wall or below. Uneven older concrete and thin, sound old adhesive can also take latex once tested and primed.
The point of it all is the finish. Sheet vinyl, LVT, rubber, safety flooring, lino and carpet all show what lies beneath them, so board edges, grout joints and ridges print through without a smoothing layer. We cover the whole city, including Headington Quarry, Botley, New Botley and Cumnor Hill. For the broader levelling picture, including flatness classes, our Oxford floor levelling page has the detail.
When Jericho and Osney floors need more than latex
Latex is a surface treatment. It will not survive a base that is damp, moving or badly out of level, and an older Oxford house can present any of the three.
Damp first. Homes built before 1919 make up 19% of the city's housing, and in the Victorian and Edwardian houses of Jericho, Osney and North Oxford, solid floors were often laid with no damp proof membrane. Latex over one of those floors simply moves the problem up to the vinyl. The floor needs excavating and rebuilding with a membrane, as our sand and cement screed page for Oxford describes.
Movement next. Boards that spring underfoot, or a ply overlay with too few fixings, will crack a thin layer. The carpentry has to be put right before we start.
Level last. Latex closes up a few millimetres. A floor out by centimetres, or a broken slab, needs concrete floor repair or a new screed, with latex added on top only where the finish asks for it.
Priming ties it together. Each base takes its own primer: concrete, plywood, glazed tile and calcium sulphate screed are all different, and calcium sulphate is sanded free of laitance first. We check the base for damp before any primer tin is opened.
How we price latex screed in Oxford
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 Oxford
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 Oxford
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 30.4 miles from Oxford, which lies to the west-north-west. Postcodes here include OX1, OX3, OX4 and OX44, and Kidlington (5 miles), Abingdon-on-Thames (5.7 miles), Witney (10 miles) and Didcot (10.1 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
