Pipe cover and floor height in Petersfield homes
Without the right screed, a wet heating system struggles. It spreads the heat, protects the pipes and carries the floor above, and it can only do that with enough cover.
Pour liquid screed and the pipes need no less than 25mm on top, so the layer is usually 45 to 50mm in all. Sand and cement asks for roughly 45mm above the pipes alone, which makes the finished floor thicker. Where height is tight, that difference decides the choice, and liquid screed usually wins because it flows fully around the pipes with no air pockets.
Height is often tightest in the oldest houses. The pre-1919 homes around the centre and the Causeway may need the old floor dug out first, so that insulation, pipes and screed all fit below the existing thresholds.
With 24% of the town's homes semi-detached, plenty of Petersfield families add room by building a single storey extension off the back of one. Linking a heated extension to the existing kitchen floor means the new build-up has to finish at the same level as the old one.
Planning conditions in the South Downs National Park can affect how an extension is designed, including its floor levels. Settle the finished floor height with your architect before the insulation is bought. Before anything is poured, we inspect the insulation, membrane and edge strip, or provide them ourselves under insulation and membranes.
Switching the heating on in a new Petersfield floor
Most damage to a heated floor happens in its first warm-up, so get the dates clear before the pour.
With calcium sulphate, the heating can usually come on around a week after pouring. Hand-laid sand and cement is slower to be ready: leave it at least 21 days before the boiler sends warm water through the loops. In both cases the system is commissioned gradually, with the water temperature raised in small steps and held, rather than turned straight up to full. Too much heat too soon can leave the screed cracked or its edges curling up.
Using the heating also helps the floor dry, which is useful before tiles, LVT or engineered wood go down. The heating engineer and the flooring fitter should both be told the dates. Our drying times guide explains how the moisture level is checked.
On the town's newest plots, the heating tends to be part of the plan from day one. In Petersfield, 7% of homes were built since 2015, and new plots like these are typically built with an insulated floor ready for pipes and a flowing screed. For older houses, see our screed thickness guide before deciding on a depth.
Underfloor Heating Screed prices in Petersfield
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 Petersfield
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 Petersfield
Petersfield is about 38.6 miles south-south-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including GU32, GU31 and GU33. The nearest towns to it are Horndean (7.3 miles), Alton (10.1 miles), Havant (10.4 miles) and Emsworth (10.8 miles).
More on underfloor heating screed, part of our screeding services.
