Reading a Totton drawing that names a CA grade
Each CA code is a strength rating, set out in the European standard for screeds. C stands for compressive strength, F for flexural strength, and both figures are in N/mm2. CA-C20-F4 suits a home floor that gets light use. Your average house, flat or office floor takes CA-C25-F5. Floors that take harder use get CA-C30-F6. Whichever your drawing or engineer's note gives, that is what goes in the pump; if nothing is stated, tell us how the room will be used and we will propose a grade.
Alpha hemihydrate is a different family again. People pick them when drying speed or a thin section is the priority, and each product's data sheet sets its own depth, drying time and heating regime. On a Totton plot with very little depth to spare in the floor build-up, one of these can be the way through.
Calcium sulphate barely shrinks as it cures, so a large flat floor can usually go down in big bays with few joints. We draw up the bay and joint plan before pouring, paying most attention to doorways and to lines where one heating zone meets another.
New build is only a small slice of the town: 8% of homes date from 2000 to 2014. Even so, a specified grade is treated the same whether the floor is in Foxhills, Hammond's Green or elsewhere. Background on the material sits in our anhydrite guide.
Laitance and moisture checks before Totton floors are covered
Drying draws a fine, weak layer called laitance up to the surface of this screed. It has to come off before any adhesive is spread, normally by sanding when the floor has dried out sufficiently. Leave it and tiles, LVT or timber may lose their grip. Sanding and cleaning the surface fall under our floor preparation work.
Next comes the moisture reading. A lot of flooring manufacturers allow less moisture in calcium sulphate than in cement, so compare the result with the figure your flooring maker gives instead of a general rule of thumb. Heating pipes in the floor? Running them from around 7 days can usually help force the moisture out.
With the laitance gone, the floor is primed using a primer made for calcium sulphate, ahead of any adhesive or levelling product.
Calcium sulphate and water do not mix well, so a floor in line for splashes or leaks needs something else. For wet rooms, showers and other floors that will see water, the specification should call for a flowing screed with a cement binder, and it helps to mark the two clearly apart on the drawings so nobody swaps them on the day. An anhydrite pour in Hedge End follows the same rules.
Anhydrite & Flow Screed prices in Totton
Liquid flowing screed (which includes anhydrite): £24 to £31 per m² supplied and laid (MyJobQuote, August 2026), so £960 to £1,240 for 40 m². MyJobQuote does not say whether these figures include VAT. See our floor screeding cost guide or screed calculator.
Who lays your anhydrite and flow screed in Totton
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.
Anhydrite & Flow Screed from Slough to Totton
Totton is about 56 miles south-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including SO40. The nearest towns to it are Southampton (3.8 miles), Romsey (4.9 miles), Eastleigh (6.9 miles) and Hedge End (8.1 miles).
More on anhydrite screed, part of our screeding services.