Rebuilding Victorian floors in Trowbridge's Newtown conservation area
A Victorian floor in Newtown can fail in two ways. A suspended timber floor may have rotted or sagged, and a solid floor laid with no damp proof membrane lets ground moisture rise into the finish. Either way, new flooring laid on top tends not to last.
Normally the old floor is broken out first. A new base goes in, followed by a damp proof membrane and insulation, and then a sand and cement screed to bring the floor up to level. When it floats on insulation in a home, the sand and cement goes in at about 65mm. Where the existing base is solid and just the top layer is at fault, bonding 25 to 40mm of screed to it may do the job.
Mixed on site and placed by hand, sand and cement suits these Newtown houses. It copes with small rooms, narrow hallways and changes in level between front and back rooms. It also gives a cement surface, which suits the bathrooms and kitchens most renovations include.
Terraced houses make up 24% of Trowbridge's homes. On a terrace with no drive, a hand-laid screed is mixed near the door and barrowed in, which avoids the pump setup a liquid screed would need.
Where the old floor has coatings, adhesives or uneven concrete, our floor preparation service covers that first. For the layers beneath the new screed, see insulation and membranes.
Bathrooms, falls and drying times in Trowbridge
A sand and cement screed can be shaped by hand to falls, which is what a wet room or walk-in shower needs to drain properly. It tolerates moisture, unlike calcium sulphate, so it is the usual choice for bathrooms and utility rooms in any Trowbridge house, old or new.
Garages are another good fit. A conversion often needs the floor raised, insulated and protected with a membrane, and our garage floor screed guide explains the build-up.
A thinner section, or one at risk of cracking, can have fibres added for £1 to £3 per m² on published figures. Rapid drying additives are another option where time is short, and quick drying screed covers those.
Drying is the main trade-off. At 65mm, a hand-laid floor is much slower to dry than a pumped one, at about one day per millimetre up to 40mm and slower again after that, so build that time into the programme. A hygrometer test against the flooring maker's limit, not the number of weeks since the pour, decides when the floor is ready. For a floor that has cracked or hollowed in places rather than failed outright, our screed repairs service may save relaying the whole room.
Sand and Cement Screed prices in Trowbridge
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 Trowbridge
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 Trowbridge
On the map, Trowbridge sits west-south-west of Slough, about 69.1 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including BA14 and BA15), next to Westbury (4.2 miles), Melksham (4.7 miles), Bath (7.9 miles) and Frome (7.9 miles).
More on sand & cement screed, part of our screeding services.
