Kitchen and bathroom refits in Witney houses
Ask for latex screed and you are asking for a particular mix. A cement based powder is blended with latex liquid rather than water, and the coat it makes is thin, smooth and slightly flexible, with a strong grip on surfaces that would defeat an ordinary compound. It is laid only a few millimetres deep, so it is a finish for a sound base, not a way to raise or rebuild one.
In a Witney refit, the base it goes over depends on the house. A post-war semi may have a concrete ground floor with old quarry or ceramic tiles still bonded to it. If those tiles are firm, they are cleaned, primed and coated, which saves breaking them out. A worn concrete floor is cleaned and primed in the same way, and thin adhesive that is still stuck fast can sometimes stay.
Timber floors are handled differently. Bare boards move too much for a thin cement coat, so latex is never laid straight onto them. Loose boards are fixed, damaged ones replaced, and flooring grade plywood is screwed over the top. The latex then fills the sheet joints and fixings so none of them telegraph through sheet vinyl.
Flats make up 16% of Witney's homes. A bathroom in a flat being refitted with safety flooring or vinyl usually has a solid base, and once old covering and loose adhesive are off and the right primer is down, latex gives it the smooth face those finishes need.
Damp floors near the Windrush and Wood Green
Latex is a smoothing coat. It does not hold back moisture, and laid on a damp floor it can lose its bond and take the new covering with it.
That matters in parts of Witney. The 2007 floods reached Bridge Street, Mill Street and the Aquarius development, and a ground floor rebuilt in the low-lying streets by the Windrush needs its membrane detailed with care before latex is even considered. The screed for that rebuild is chosen with moisture in mind, and a cement based one such as sand and cement screed suits a floor that may get wet, where calcium sulphate does not. Where an older cottage in Wood Green or the West End is being refitted, it usually needs damp proofing and insulation first, and latex follows only once that work is finished and the base has dried.
Two other faults rule latex out. Springy boards will crack it, so the timber is secured and overboarded first. A floor that falls badly across a room needs a deeper levelling pour or new screed, because a thin coat cannot correct it. If the trouble is ridges or raised joints, diamond grinding in Witney takes them down before the latex goes on.
Calcium sulphate screeds have one more rule: the laitance comes off with a sander, and the surface takes a primer made for that material, before any latex. We lay latex screed in Carterton on the same terms.
How we price latex screed in Witney
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 Witney
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 Witney
Witney is about 40.2 miles west-north-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including OX28 and OX29. The nearest towns to it are Carterton (5.1 miles), Kidlington (8.8 miles), Oxford (10 miles) and Abingdon-on-Thames (11.9 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.