Latex over old tiles and plywood in Tadley
Latex screed is a cement based powder mixed with latex liquid instead of water. The latex makes it grip harder and flex a little more than an ordinary compound, so it suits bases that are sound but awkward. It goes down a few millimetres thick, enough to bury texture and grout lines without raising the floor by any amount you would notice at the door.
When an old covering comes up in a post-war kitchen or bathroom, one of three bases usually appears. The first is ceramic or quarry tile, laid when the room was last done. If the tiles are firmly bonded, they stay: we tap out any hollow ones, clean and key the surface, prime it and spread latex over the top, so the grout pattern disappears.
The second is timber. Upstairs bathrooms and some ground floors sit on boards, and boards are never latexed directly because they move. They are screwed down and overboarded with flooring grade plywood fixed at close centres, and then the latex goes on.
The third is concrete or screed with old adhesive stuck to it. A thin, hard, well bonded adhesive can often be primed and covered; soft or thick residue has to come off first, which is a job for our Tadley concrete floor grinding service.
Primer is chosen for each base, because tiles, plywood, concrete and adhesive residue all take different products. If an extension has a calcium sulphate screed, its laitance is removed and it is always primed before latex goes near it.
Damp, bounce and slope in Tadley floors
Latex is the final smoothing layer. It is not a cure for a floor with a deeper fault, and three faults rule it out until they are put right.
Damp comes first. A thin latex layer will not hold back moisture rising through a ground floor slab, and sheet vinyl laid over a damp base lifts and smells. We check before quoting, and where a membrane is missing the floor may need membranes and insulation as part of a relay.
Bounce is the second. Boards that flex underfoot will crack a latex layer along every joint. They have to be fixed to the joists, with any weak joists dealt with, before the plywood goes down.
Slope is the third. Tired original screeds in Tadley's post-war houses can crack, lift or dip, and latex cannot bring a floor that is well out of level back into line. A worn out floor is better broken out and relaid in sand and cement for Tadley houses, and latex can then go over the new screed if a sheet finish needs an extra smooth surface.
Where a sound floor only needs general levelling before tiles or engineered wood, the floor levelling page is the right guide instead. The same latex work is also offered in Basingstoke.
How we price latex screed in Tadley
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 Tadley
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 Tadley
On the map, Tadley sits west-south-west of Slough, about 24.9 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including RG26), next to Thatcham (5.7 miles), Basingstoke (6.7 miles), Newbury (8.1 miles) and Reading (10.1 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.
