Relaying cracked slabs in older Rochford and Hawkwell semis
A cracked, uninsulated ground floor is a frequent discovery when an older semi is renovated. The floor may have sunk, lost its damp resistance or simply been cold for decades. The lasting repair is to break it out and rebuild it: a damp proof membrane, insulation boards and a new screed finished at the original level so doors, stairs and skirting still line up.
In a Hawkwell or Rochford semi, hand-laid screed copes well with that kind of rebuild. It is mixed on site in batches to suit the depth, which helps when the old slab was uneven and the build-up varies across the room. Floating over insulation, we lay it around 65mm deep in a house and about 75mm in a commercial unit. We pack it down by hand, then close the surface with a trowel or a power float.
If the concrete underneath is still solid and the doors leave little room, a thinner bonded layer of 25 to 40mm can go straight onto the prepared slab. Our bonded screed service explains that option, which published 2026 figures price at £12 to £18 (trade2base, June 2026) a square metre.
For a floating screed over insulation, fibres can be added to help control shrinkage cracks, at about £1 to £3 per m². To see how membrane, insulation and screed stack up in an older Rochford floor, read our screed depth guide. And if the rebuilt floor is going to be heated, the underfloor heating screed page for Rochford explains the extra cover the pipes need.
Wet rooms and small spaces in Rochford homes
Some rooms must have a cement screed. Even in a newer Rochford house with anhydrite through the living rooms, the wet room, walk-in shower and utility are laid in sand and cement, since calcium sulphate should not sit where water can collect. We can slope it slightly towards the drain so the water runs off instead of standing.
Small rooms are its other territory. A downstairs cloakroom, a porch or a narrow extension can be screeded by hand without setting up a pump, and on small, awkward jobs that is usually the cheaper route. An ordinary mix costs £18 to £25 per m² on the 2026 published figures.
The oldest homes in Rochford, the 6% built before 1919, can also have floors that need rebuilding, though period properties near the market square may only need gentler levelling instead.
Patience is the price of a hand-laid floor. Drying at around a millimetre a day up to 40mm, and slower past that, a 65mm floor is usually two months or more away from taking most finishes. A faster drying mix brings that forward at £20 to £28 a square metre, and the options are set out on our quick drying screed page.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in Rochford
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 Rochford
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 Rochford
On the map, Rochford sits east of Slough, about 58.4 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including SS4), next to Southend-on-Sea (2.9 miles), Rayleigh (4.4 miles), South Woodham Ferrers (5.7 miles) and Wickford (8.3 miles).
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.