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Floor Screeding UK: When you are renovating your UK home with damaged or uneven floors, or maybe converting a cellar or basement into a functional living space, an experienced floor screeding company will be able to help with your home improvements. A screed is used to produce a smooth floor surface over a concrete sub-base and give a firm foundation for your choice of top flooring material. If you want your floors to last a long time then floor screeding is one of the most important factors in any renovation or building project.

FLOOR SCREEDING CONTRACTORS UK

A reliable floor screeding company in UK will have all the know-how and experience to help you achieve a perfectly finished floor in whichever shape or size of room you're renovating. They will be able to advise you on the correct kind of screed your project requires, and how best to apply and install it.

They will additionally assess if a structural engineer is required to make sure that any flex strength, load bearing and point loadings are followed as set out in the building regulations.

The training and skills that a qualified screeding specialist brings to your project will guarantee a successful end result and help in extending the lifetime of your floor or floors. There are many different types of screeding and picking the correct mix and installation process is essential to achieve a quality floor that is both long-lasting and fit for purpose.

Before deciding upon a screeding contractor from those operating in the UK area, ask to what standard of finish they're basing their quote, and also make certain that you get multiple quotes. The SR (Surface Regularity) finish is the number to look for when studying a quotation from UK floor screeding contractors. SR1 is the highest quality, and whilst SR2 and SR3 might seem less costly at first glance, they do not guarantee a perfectly even or flat floor surface. Any error in the screeding (as might occur with SR2 or SR3) can cause issues with laying flooring due to flat spots, indentations, ridges in the surface.

The rules and regulations specified in the British Standards BS8204 must be observed by any UK floor screeding company and they must also hold accreditation with the manufacturers of specialist screeding materials (Gypsol, Flowcrete, Cemfloor etc.) to substantiate their competence and safe working practices. A contractor holding such accreditations proves that they've been trained and assessed in using these products and can provide a high quality standard in all areas of their installation.

TYPES OF SCREED

Standard Screeds - Widely used in domestic projects where the mixture of sand and cement is good for standard floor traffic use. Five parts sand to one part cement is the usual mix for standard screed. Once its been laid this 5:1 ratio dries at a rate of one millimetre each day.

Fibre Reinforced Screed - The preferred option where underfloor heating is being installed in domestic properties in UK. The improved flexibility and strength offered by the special fibres in the screed help protect the floor from cracking and shrinkage due to heat. The screed will set hard at a rate of 1mm/day.

Polymer Screeds - An extremely high strength solution where a reduced thickness is necessary. Owing to their different chemical compositions, polymer screeds have varying setting times which you can verify by reading manufacturer's product guidelines.

Industrial and Heavy Duty Screed - Designed for maximum strength and durability in places where traffic is high or specific loading of the floor base is required.

Advanced Drying and Fast Drying Screeds - As the name would suggest, these screeds dry at a quicker rate and allow you to use the floor area much sooner. They are normally a fibre reinforced kind of screed that dries out at a rate of between 3-7mm/day per day and are employed in time critical flooring projects.

Self-Levelling or Liquid Screeds - Used to provide a high quality finish, especially where SR1 levels are necessary, by a cement and latex material. Largely used to improve a poor substrate level or damaged floor in order to lay a brand new flooring surface, such as tiles over it. These can be as little as one millimetre in depth, and due to the latex polymers, will still provide high strength.

SCREEDING PREPARATION AND INSTALLATION

Screeding installers will have to carefully prepare all areas before any other work in order to ensure a hard wearing and quality screed flooring. The existing floor surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned to eliminate any paint, oil, grease and debris which might affect the adhesion of the screed.

Any cleaning chemicals which are used during this phase should leave no residues, and the floor surface must be allowed to dry by itself naturally. At this point cracks should be repaired because these can easily travel up through your newly laid screed and be reflected in the finished surface. A competent UK screeding contractor will take note of these issues during a site survey and make certain that all preparations are completed before applying the next steps in the screeding process.

To protect the screeding layer and flooring materials from dampness rising up from the ground, a DPM (damp proof membrane) will have to be laid. The DPM is made out of thick polythene and different layers might be used to act as a moisture barrier and air insulating layer for the screeding.

If your property is located in a place where radon gas is found an extra barrier layer is required to prevent radon gas from entering. This can be as simple as an air-tight membrane, or in more serious instances an extraction and ventilation system will be installed underneath the screeding to extract any inflow of air and gas from the ground.

Once these stages have been completed the screeders will put on a sealer or primer to the prepared floor base. Primers assist with the bonding process and are specialist applications matched to the sort of screed that's being used. Equipment such as airless sprays will usually be used to apply a sealant or primer, by certified screeding companies in UK observing the manufacturer's guidelines.

This is the time that underfloor heating can be laid out in the correct manner and installed. The heating pipes and cabling are firmly mounted on insulation panels to stop any movement and ensure that they're laid in the correct position. Warmth is spread evenly across a floor area in an expertly installed underfloor heating system, and in conjunction with it being an effective method of heating, it's an excellent choice for many UK home restoration projects.

If you are not fitting underfloor heating the screed can now be mixed and prepared on site and poured. Your use of the room will assist the screeding contractor on which sort of screed is best for your needs. Be aware that even quick drying screeds have a minimum of twenty four hours before you can walk over any screeded surfaces and at least 3 days before any flooring can be applied. This timescale is longer for standard and heavy duty screeds and the manufacture's product guidelines must be followed to the letter to achieve the optimal finish and durability of the floor.

Once the screed has set it can be checked for quality to determine its SR level. The test involves using a 2 mtr long straight-edge laid on the floor surface and any variations from true are measured.

• SR1 - SR1 is the best quality and allows only 3 millimetres of disparity from the straight-edge.

• SR2 - SR2 is the classification for normal standard floors in industrial and commercial projects and can deviate from the straight-edge by as much as 5 millimetres.

• SR3 - If the deviation is 10 millimetres or less the quality of the screeding is classified as SR3 and is highly suitable for utility and garage areas.

If your screeding has been laid with particular load bearing requirements in mind then a structural engineer is going to be required to conduct these soundness tests. The assessment will make sure that your newly laid screed surface is viable for the load point requirements specified in the original site survey. This can include what is known as a drop hammer test which assesses various aspects of the flexibility and strength of the screed. Any screed floor that's got point load requirements must be okayed by a qualified structural engineer heeding the British Standards BS8204 regulations. (Tags: Floor Screeding UK, Floor Screed UK, Floor Screeding Services UK, Screeding UK).

Latex Floor Screed UK

When the characteristics of your floor's surface means that a level of flexibility is required, it may be an advantage to use a latex self-levelling screeding, as opposed to one with an unyielding finish. Typically coming in 2 parts, latex screeds comprise a cement-based compound, and a liquid latex additive. The liquid latex part takes the place of the water which is used in standard screeds, meaning that it's more flexible and quicker drying.

This latex product is used for levelling sub-floors prior to the installation of the final decorative covering. Producing a durable, smooth surface that is ideal for the application of adhesives, this is is suitable for use on subfloors of concrete, quarry tiles, asphalt, sand/cement and wood. If your sub-floor has a bit of movement in it, this type of latex screed will provide a crack-free, flexible finish, on which your chosen floor coverings can sit.

When using a "floating" screed, i.e. when screeding is being laid on the top of underfloor heating, thicknesses of 50 to 65 millimetres may be necessary, and latex flooring screeds are not a suitable choice in this case.

Related Tasks

There are a wide range of tasks that can be completed by your local UK floor screeding company including floor screeding tools UK, floor levelling, screeding advice, floor renovation UK, rapid strength floor screeds UK, floor insulation, fibre reinforced screeding, floor screeding, liquid screeds, conservatory floor screeding in UK, self-levelling screeding, polished screeding UK, industrial screeding, acoustic flooring, concrete pumping, floor screed repairs, domestic floor screeding, waterproof screeding UK, and more floor screeding tasks.