Awkward bases under Solihull kitchen and bathroom refits
A refit in an older Solihull house rarely leaves one tidy surface. Take up the units and the old covering and you might find floorboards in one corner, quarry tiles by the back door, a concrete patch where a chimney breast came out and a film of old adhesive over the lot. Sheet vinyl and LVT will print every one of those edges through within weeks.
Latex copes with mixed bases better than plain water mixed compound because the latex liquid gives the cured layer some flexibility and grip. It suits four situations in particular. Timber floors take it well once sheets of flooring grade plywood have been screwed over them at close centres; bare floorboards do not, so the ply always goes first. Old quarry or ceramic tiles can stay if every tile is firmly stuck and the glaze or polish is cleaned off. Uneven older concrete is the third case, and sound old adhesive that will not lift with a scraper is the fourth.
Terraced houses make up 10% of homes in Solihull and only 3% were built before 1919, so the true period floor is uncommon here. The between-the-wars and post-war kitchen is the usual setting instead. Each base gets its own primer, and the flatness targets that sheet finishes ask for are explained on our Solihull floor levelling page. Stripping loose tiles or soft adhesive before the latex goes on comes under floor preparation.
When latex is the wrong answer in Solihull
Latex is a finishing skim, so it can only be as good as the floor beneath it. Three conditions rule it out until they are fixed.
The first is movement. If boards bounce underfoot, a few millimetres of compound will crack along every joint. Loose boards are screwed down, failed joists are dealt with by a carpenter, and plywood goes on before we return.
The second is damp. A hygrometer reading on an older solid floor tells us whether moisture is coming up from the ground. Latex does not stop it, and vinyl stuck over a damp base will lift or smell. A floor in that state needs a membrane, and often a rebuilt sand and cement floor.
The third is level. If a kitchen slopes badly from the back door to the hall, a thin compound cannot take that out, and a new screed or a deeper repair comes first.
A different base turns up in the small share of newer homes, such as the village at Blythe Valley Park, where liquid screed is more likely to sit under the old finish. If that screed is calcium sulphate, its laitance is sanded away and a compatible primer goes on before any latex. Stratford-upon-Avon's latex screed page covers the same work there.
How we price latex screed in Solihull
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 Solihull
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 Solihull
On the map, Solihull sits north-west of Slough, about 77.7 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including B91, B26, B92 and B90), next to Kenilworth (9.7 miles), Redditch (10.1 miles), Coventry (11.4 miles) and Warwick (12 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.