Terraces, flats and rebuilt estates across Portsmouth
Census 2021 counted 223,324 people in the Portsmouth built-up area, with Fratton, Copnor, Stamshaw and Hilsea filling much of Portsea Island. The housing tells the story of that squeeze, and the right screed follows from the building.
Southsea, Fratton and North End are lined with Victorian terraces, and Southsea also has villas and conservation areas around the streets Thomas Ellis Owen built. In these houses the old suspended timber ground floor is often swapped for an insulated slab and screed, and floors that have dropped over a century need bringing back to level. Hand-laid sand and cement screed suits small rooms and dig-outs, while self levelling compound can correct a sound but uneven floor; our floor levelling page explains where each fits.
Wartime bombing between 1940 and 1944 destroyed over 13,000 houses, and council rebuilding reshaped Portsea and pushed new estates out to Paulsgrove and Leigh Park. Across the city, newer flats and houses suit a pumped liquid screed, which covers a whole floor in a day.
Where heating goes into an older house, floor height is usually the deciding factor. How much screed has to sit over the pipes, and what that does to the threshold, is set out under heated floor screeding. Blocks of flats whose drawings call up a particular calcium sulphate grade belong with anhydrite flow screed.
We cover the whole city, from Hilsea, Copnor and Stamshaw to Eastney, Milton and Old Portsmouth.
Homes in Portsmouth at a glance
Of the 92,849 households in Portsmouth, 42% live in terraced houses and 32% in flats. The largest group of homes here was built before 1919 (37%), and a further 20% between 1945 and 1972.
| Homes in Portsmouth | Share |
|---|---|
| Detached houses | 5% |
| Semi-detached houses | 19% |
| Terraced houses | 42% |
| Flats | 32% |
| Built before 1919 | 37% |
| Built 1919 to 1944 | 18% |
| Built 1945 to 1972 | 20% |
| Built 1973 to 1999 | 14% |
| Built since 2000 | 11% |
House types from Census 2021 (table TS044); building age from the Valuation Office Agency council tax stock of properties, 31 March 2026 (table CTSOP 4.1). Figures cover the Portsmouth built-up area (E63006574).
Screeding services in Portsmouth
- Liquid ScreedPortsmouth flats and Southsea terraces with no side access suit liquid screed pumped from the road. Level floors, walkable in 48 hours.
- Sand and Cement ScreedTimber floors in Fratton and North End terraces replaced with an insulated slab and hand-laid sand and cement screed in Portsmouth.
- Underfloor Heating ScreedHeating a Portsmouth kitchen extension or replacing a Southsea timber floor? We screed over wet underfloor heating with full pipe cover.
- Anhydrite & Flow ScreedPortsmouth apartment specs may name an anhydrite screed at a grade such as CA-C25-F5. We pump it to the spec and advise on laitance.
- Floor LevellingFloors dropped over a century in Southsea terraces, or a Gunwharf Quays shop refit: Portsmouth floor levelling ready for LVT and tiles.
- Latex ScreedOld tiles or plywood under a Portsmouth kitchen or bathroom refit? Two part latex screed, a few mm thick, readies it for vinyl.
- Concrete Floor GrindingGrinding for post-war industrial units at Fratton, Paulsgrove and Farlington and Portsmouth homes, with dust extraction, ready for new floors.
We also offer fibre reinforced screed, quick drying screed, high strength screed, bonded screed, floor preparation, screed repairs, concrete floor repair, screed pumping, insulation & membranes, commercial screeding and residential screeding in Portsmouth.
Parking, pumping and timing on Portsea Island
Access decides a lot of Portsmouth jobs before the screed is even chosen. On a terraced street with no side access, everything reaches the back of the house through the front door. Barrowing sand and cement through a hallway is slow and messy, so pumping from the road is often the cleaner answer, with the hose laid through the house on protection. Either way, the mixer or lorry needs somewhere to stand, so tell us about permit zones, yellow lines and how busy the street is when you ask for a price.
Get the order of trades right as well. Screed goes down when the building is weathertight, after the heating pipes are laid and tested, and before plastering is finished. On an extension that means roof on, windows in and first fix complete. You can cross the new floor after a day or two, yet the carpet or tiles usually wait weeks while it dries out, so leave a gap before the fitter's date.
Business premises in the city run to the same order of work, only bigger. The council built an industrial estate at Fratton in 1948, with more at Paulsgrove and Farlington in the 1950s and 1960s, and those older units are refitted as occupiers change. Postcodes here include PO1 to PO5.
Screeding prices for Portsmouth floors
Sand and cement £18 to £25 per m², liquid £24 to £31 per m², supplied and laid (MyJobQuote, August 2026). MyJobQuote does not say whether these figures include VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide.
Who lays your floor screed in Portsmouth
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.
Reaching Portsmouth
Portsmouth is about 54.4 miles south-south-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including PO1, PO3, PO2 and PO6. The nearest towns to it are Gosport (1.4 miles), Fareham (5.3 miles), Havant (6.2 miles) and Emsworth (7.6 miles). Neighbourhoods we cover in Portsmouth include Anchorage Park, Baffins, Buckland, Copnor and Cosham.
See our screeding services for every screed type we lay.
