What latex screed is and where it suits Raunds
Latex screed is a trade name rather than a separate kind of screed. It comes in two parts: a cement based powder and a container of latex liquid, which is stirred in where a normal compound would take water. The mix is laid thin, typically a few millimetres, and gives a smooth face for floor coverings that would otherwise show every flaw beneath them.
The jobs it suits in a Raunds house tend to come from refits rather than building work. A kitchen being replaced may have quarry tiles or ceramic tiles that are still firmly stuck down. A bathroom may have a concrete floor that has worn uneven over the decades. A hallway may have had its old carpet lifted to reveal patches of sound adhesive. Each of these can take a latex layer once it has been cleaned and primed, so the old surface does not have to be broken out.
Timber floors are the exception that catches people out. Latex never goes straight onto bare floorboards, because boards move with the seasons and the compound would crack along every joint. The boards are first overboarded with flooring grade plywood, screwed down at close centres, and the latex goes over the plywood.
The finishes that call for it are the thin, flexible ones: sheet vinyl, LVT, lino, rubber, safety flooring in a utility or cloakroom, and carpet where the owner wants no ridges showing through. For how flat a floor needs to be, and when an ordinary levelling compound will do, see our Raunds floor levelling page.
When latex is not enough in a Raunds home
Latex fixes the surface, not the structure. Before any is mixed, the floor has to pass three checks, and if it fails one the money is better spent elsewhere first.
The first is movement. Press on overboarded timber near the middle of a room and feel for spring. If the joists or boards flex, a thin layer will crack within months, so loose boards are screwed down, damaged ones replaced and the plywood refixed before latex goes near it.
The second is damp. Latex does nothing to stop moisture coming up from below. The solid floors in older houses near the town centre can be worn and tired, and any of them needs a damp test before anything is spread on it. Where the reading is high, the cure is a membrane and a relaid floor, which our sand and cement screed service in Raunds covers.
The third is level. Latex smooths small hollows and tile joints. It will not lift one end of a room that has dropped badly, and pouring it thick to try can end in cracking and debonding. A floor that far out needs a new screed or local repairs, such as our screed repairs service, before any thin layer.
Primer comes last but is never skipped. Each base gets its own: tiles, concrete and old adhesive take different products, and a calcium sulphate screed always has its laitance taken off and is primed before latex.
How we price latex screed in Raunds
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 Raunds
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 Raunds
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 56.4 miles from Raunds, which lies to the north. Postcodes here include NN9, and Rushden (4.6 miles), Burton Latimer (6.2 miles), Wellingborough (7.3 miles) and Kettering (9 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
