Latex over modern slabs and old tiles in Rushden
Ask a flooring fitter in Rushden what goes under new LVT and you may hear the word latex. It describes a two part levelling compound: a cement based powder, and a latex liquid mixed into it where an ordinary compound would take water. It is spread a few millimetres thick over a base that is already sound.
For a house from the 2000s, the base is usually a modern slab or screed in decent order. The flooring being lifted, perhaps carpet or laminate, leaves small dips, gripper holes and adhesive marks. Once those are cleaned and primed, a skim of latex gives the new floor a smooth face to sit on.
Older Rushden houses bring harder bases. A kitchen may have quarry tiles that have been down for decades and are still stuck fast. A bathroom may have ceramic tiles with deep grout lines. Where the tiles are firmly bonded, they can stay: we clean and prime them, and the latex fills the joints so they do not print through a thin finish.
Timber ground floors are different again. Bare boards are never latexed directly, because they move. They are first covered with flooring grade plywood screwed down at close centres, and the latex goes over that. If the timber has decayed, as it can in the town's older terraces, it needs replacing rather than covering.
The coverings that benefit are sheet vinyl, LVT, lino, rubber and safety flooring, plus carpet where a smooth base matters. To compare latex with general levelling compound, see our Rushden floor levelling page.
Damp, springy boards and steep dips in Rushden
Before latex goes down, three questions decide whether it is the right answer at all.
Is the floor dry? Rushden's older terraces often have solid floors without a damp proof membrane. Latex laid on a damp slab will not hold the moisture back, and the vinyl or LVT above it can lift or mark. A floor like that needs the damp dealt with first, usually by relaying it.
Is it firm? Overboarded floors that spring underfoot will crack a thin layer along the board joints. The joists and boards are fixed first, then the plywood, then the latex.
Is it close to level? Latex smooths small hollows. A floor that has dropped well beyond a few millimetres across a room needs a screed or a repair, and stretching latex to make up the difference risks cracking and loss of bond. Our screed repairs service handles broken and hollow areas before any thin layer.
Primer is the final step, and it depends on the base. Old tiles, concrete and sound old adhesive each take their own. A calcium sulphate screed always has its laitance sanded off and is primed before latex, as our Rushden anhydrite flow screed page explains.
How we price latex screed in Rushden
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 Rushden
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 Rushden
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 52.5 miles from Rushden, which lies to the north. Postcodes here include NN10, and Wellingborough (4.1 miles), Raunds (4.6 miles), Burton Latimer (6 miles) and Kettering (9.3 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
