What latex screed does in Welwyn Garden City refits
Latex screed is the trade name for a two part levelling compound. A cement based powder is mixed with a latex liquid in place of water, and the latex gives the cured layer a little flexibility and a firm grip on surfaces that an ordinary compound would let go of. It goes down thin, usually just a few millimetres, so it smooths a floor rather than rebuilding it.
That makes it handy in the kitchen and bathroom refits that come with Welwyn Garden City's older houses, the ones west of Parkway. Lifting tired lino or carpet in a house of that age can expose almost anything: a suspended timber floor, ceramic tiles stuck fast, a quarry tiled kitchen or a concrete slab patched in different decades. Latex can cover most of these, provided the base itself is sound.
Timber needs the most care. Latex is never poured straight onto bare floorboards, because the boards shift with every footstep and the compound cracks along their joints. The boards are first overboarded with flooring grade plywood, screwed down at close centres, and the latex goes over the plywood.
Old tiles can stay put if every one is firmly bonded. Each is tapped to find hollow ones, the surface is cleaned of grease and polish, and a primer goes on before laying. Sound, thin old adhesive can sometimes stay too, though thick or loose residue is better taken off first with our concrete floor grinding.
The finishes that need this smooth skin are the thin ones: sheet vinyl, LVT, safety flooring in a utility room, lino, rubber and carpet. Every one of them shows the shape of the floor beneath it.
When a Welwyn Garden City floor needs more than latex
Latex is a finishing layer, not a repair. Three conditions stop it working, and each is checked before a price is given.
The first is movement. A timber floor that flexes underfoot will crack any thin compound laid over it. Loose boards are refixed and the floor overboarded before latex is even considered, and if it still bounces, the joists need looking at by a joiner.
The second is damp. Latex does not hold back moisture, and a solid floor in an older house may have no damp proof membrane at all. A meter reading on the slab comes first. If it is damp, the floor needs a membrane or a full rebuild, and our page on hand-laid sand and cement screed explains how a dug-out floor is relaid.
The third is level. A floor that falls across the whole room, or dips well beyond a few millimetres, wants a deeper fix than a latex skin. Where the question is general flatness rather than an awkward base, our levelling compound page covers the flatness classes and deeper products.
Priming ties it together. Each base takes its own primer, and a calcium sulphate screed always has its laitance removed and is primed before latex touches it. Next door, the same thin layers are laid as latex screed in Hatfield.
How we price latex screed in Welwyn Garden City
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 Welwyn Garden City
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 Welwyn Garden City
On the map, Welwyn Garden City sits north-east of Slough, about 26.6 miles from our base in a straight line (postcodes including AL8, AL6, AL7 and AL9), next to Hatfield (2.7 miles), Hertford (5.6 miles), Harpenden (6.5 miles) and St Albans (6.7 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.