Relaying cracked and hollow screeds in South Woodham Ferrers
A hollow screed gives itself away with a dull, drummy sound when tapped. It means the screed has lost its bond with the slab, or was never fully compacted, and the loose section can crack under a tiled floor or rock under furniture. Cracks across a room, a crumbling surface or dips near doorways point to the same problem.
In a town that grew almost entirely over one forty year span, these faults tend to surface as floors reach the same age. The repair depends on how far the damage has spread. A small loose patch can be cut back to sound edges and relaid, which our screed repairs service covers. If the whole room has lost its bond, we break out the old screed and lay a fresh one.
Relaying by hand gives control. The mix is batched on site, laid over a bonding layer or a membrane as the job requires, then compacted and trowelled to a dense, level surface. A bonded screed on a sound slab is laid at 25 to 40mm, while a floating screed over insulation goes to about 65mm in a house. On small areas there is no pump to set up, which keeps the cost down for a hallway or a cloakroom.
Semi-detached houses make up 23% of the town's homes and terraces 15%, and their hallways, cloakrooms and back kitchens are the kind of small space where hand laying is the sensible choice.
Bathrooms, garages and falls in South Woodham Ferrers homes
Wet areas need cement. A walk-in shower or wet room floor must fall towards the drain and may be damp for long periods, which rules out calcium sulphate. A sand and cement screed is formed by hand to the gradient, compacted and finished ready for tanking and tiles.
Garage conversions on detached homes are the other staple. On these detached houses the garage slab tends to sit lower than the hallway, so we build it up with insulation and a membrane and screed it to meet the house floor. You can see the layers in our guide to garage floor build-ups.
Sand and cement also suits floors that need to carry a load early or need a cement substrate under a particular tile system. Fibres can be added for £1 to £3 per m² to reduce shrinkage cracking, and quick drying mixes help where the flooring date is close; see quick drying screed.
The drawback is time. Drying takes about one day per millimetre up to 40mm and longer for every millimetre after, which leaves a 65mm traditional floor waiting weeks for a moisture-sensitive covering. If you are fitting large format tiles and the old floor is sound but not flat, floor levelling in South Woodham Ferrers may avoid a new screed altogether.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in South Woodham Ferrers
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 South Woodham Ferrers
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 South Woodham Ferrers
On the map, South Woodham Ferrers sits east of Slough, about 55.1 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including CM3), next to Rayleigh (4.1 miles), Wickford (4.9 miles), Rochford (5.7 miles) and Maldon (6.5 miles).
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.