Latex screed for kitchen and bathroom refits in Wokingham
Latex screed is a two part levelling compound. The powder is cement based, and instead of water it is mixed with a latex liquid, which makes the cured coat slightly flexible and gives it a firmer grip on smooth or awkward surfaces. It goes on thin, usually a few millimetres, and its job is to give a new floor covering something smooth and even to sit on.
A refit in a house from the 1960s, 1970s or early 1990s tends to uncover one of three bases. The first is ceramic or quarry tiles from an earlier makeover. If they are still firmly bonded, they can be degreased, primed and covered with latex, rather than broken out with all the dust, noise and height problems that brings. Loose or hollow tiles are lifted and the gaps filled first.
The second is timber. Upstairs bathrooms in two-storey houses usually sit on boarded floors. Latex is never laid straight on floorboards; they are overboarded with flooring grade plywood, fixed down firmly, and the ply is primed before any latex is mixed.
The third is a concrete or screed floor that has been patched, chased for pipes or left rough. Small hollows, ridges and old adhesive marks that would show through new sheet vinyl or LVT can be smoothed in one thin pass.
Homes from between the wars are only 4% of Wokingham's housing, so in this town the awkward base is more likely to be a later tiled or boarded floor than an original period one.
Safety flooring, lino and LVT in Wokingham buildings
The finishes that most need latex are the thin, flexible ones. Sheet vinyl, LVT, lino, rubber and safety flooring are all stuck down with adhesive and follow every pit and ridge beneath them. Flats make up 16% of Wokingham's homes, and their kitchens and bathrooms commonly take sheet vinyl or LVT over a base that has to be smooth.
Before laying anything, we check three things. Is the base sound and firmly fixed, with no springy boards or loose tiles? Is it dry? Latex will not stop damp coming up through an old floor, so a damp reading means a membrane or a new screed rather than a thin coat. And is it close to level? Latex smooths a floor that is rough over short distances; a floor that falls badly across the room needs a repair or new screed laid by hand first.
Priming depends on the base. Plywood, tiles, concrete and cement screed each take a suitable primer, and a calcium sulphate screed must have its laitance sanded off before it is primed. Our page on anhydrite flow screed in Wokingham explains that material, and if you are weighing latex against general self levelling compound, the Wokingham floor levelling page sets out the flatness classes. For homes about 4.4 miles away, see latex screed in Woodley.
How we price latex screed in Wokingham
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 Wokingham
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 Wokingham
Wokingham is about 11.7 miles south-west of our Slough base as the crow flies, with postcodes including RG40 and RG41. The nearest towns to it are Crowthorne (3.3 miles), Bracknell (3.5 miles), Woodley (4.4 miles) and Sandhurst (4.6 miles).
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.