Latex over plywood and old tiles in Totton houses
Latex screed is a name the flooring trade uses, not a separate family of screed. It comes in two parts: a cement based powder in a bag and a latex liquid in a drum, mixed together with no water added. The latex gives the cured layer a little flexibility and helps it grip surfaces that an ordinary compound could struggle with. It is spread thin, usually a few millimetres, and its purpose is a smooth, even face, not extra height.
Timber is the obvious case in Totton. Where an inter-war semi keeps its suspended ground floor, latex must never go straight onto the old boards. Boards shrink and swell with the seasons, the gaps between them open and close, and compound laid over them cracks along every joint. Lifting boards are screwed down first, then flooring grade plywood is fixed over the whole room at close centres, and only after that is the surface primed and coated.
Old tiles come next. Kitchens and bathrooms in older houses can hide quarry or ceramic tiles beneath several layers of later flooring. Tiles that are firmly bonded may stay where they are: we clean them, key the glaze where needed, apply a primer made for non-porous surfaces and lay the latex over the top. Any tile that rings hollow under a tap comes out first, because a thin coat is only as sound as whatever sits under it.
Rough but sound concrete, and some well stuck old adhesive, make up the rest. If the problem is a dip across the room and not the surface, our Totton floor levelling page explains flatness classes and deeper compound.
Checks before latex goes down in Totton
Latex is a finishing layer. It cannot cure a fault below it, so three checks come before any mixing starts.
Damp first. A thin skim does nothing to stop moisture moving up through an old solid floor, and sheet vinyl or rubber laid over a damp base can blister and lift. We test the floor, and where there is no working damp proof membrane the answer is a surface membrane or a new floor build-up, not another coat of compound.
Movement second. A floor that bounces when you walk across it will crack any compound, however flexible the mix. Loose joists and springy boards are fixed and the floor overboarded before we come back to lay latex.
Level third. When a room falls away by more than a thin coat can take up, latex alone will not get it right. A badly sunken or broken floor needs a new hand-laid sand and cement floor, and a patch of failed screed may only need repairing in place before the latex goes over.
Primer is never optional. Concrete, plywood and tiles each take their own type, and a calcium sulphate screed always has its laitance removed and is primed before latex touches it.
Flats are 11% of Totton's homes, and a refitted flat kitchen or bathroom finished in sheet vinyl or LVT is just the kind of small, contained floor where latex earns its place once those checks are passed.
How we price latex screed in Totton
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 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.
Latex 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 latex screed, part of our screeding services.