When laying flooring in a new building, or for that matter in a refurbishment project, it is necessary for the subfloor to be as level as possible, and this is achieved by the use of a screed. A screed is a material which can be laid over concrete in order to level out the dips and bumps as far as possible, and for many years has traditionally been made of sand and cement. However, today, calcium sulphate screeds are becoming more and more popular because of the advantages that they have over sand and cement, and they are the screeds that we supply and lay at UK Screeds.

When it comes to underfloor heating when you are building a new home, you have choices. Not only can you choose the type of heating that you use, but you can also obviously choose the sort of final flooring that you want int the house. However, there are a number of different things to take into consideration.

When constructing any type of building, one of the most important factors is the floor. Certainly, the walls and roof are of vital importance, but equally important is the floor because that is going to take all the traffic, whether it is foot traffic, which it will be in most buildings, but can also be heavier, such as forklift trucks in a warehouse.

When you are building a new home there are many different things to take into consideration. One of these is the method of heating it. For hundreds of years, homes were heated using fires, and indeed this was the case for many homes up until the 1960’s and beyond.

There is no law that says that you have to use a floor screed in the construction of a building, but if you want a floor that is perfectly flat and level, then you need one.

At UK Screeds we are specialists in the installation of liquid screed in order to provide the finest flat and level base for any type of final flooring that is required in a new construction, or for that matter in a refurbishment.

Liquid floor screeds have greatly increased in popularity over the last few years as they have so many advantages over the traditional sand and cement screeds. To begin with, they are very easy and quick to lay, as they are delivered to site ready mixed and simply pumped into position with a pump and long hose. Because they are in liquid form they flow into position and fill up any gaps or voids, which makes them particularly suitable when underfloor heating is being installed, since they will totally envelop the heating pipes. This makes for excellent thermal conductivity.

When you construct a building, in essence, it is like a box. It usually has four sides, a roof, and a floor. Certainly, some modern buildings have more unusual designs, and maybe round or some other shape, but basically there are still walls, roof, and floor. All of these are critical parts of the structure but at UK Screeds we leave the walls and roof to someone else: our concern is only with the floor which is where our expertise lies.

For many years it has been the case that, when creating a floor, it has first been necessary to ensure that the subfloor is as level as it can possibly be, and traditionally this has been done by adding a layer of screed on to the concrete. A concrete substrate is never going to be level enough to lay tiles directly, and it is not advisable to lay other final flooring surfaces without first adding a screed, although there is no regulation which says that you have to have one. However, if you don’t, there is a risk that the final flooring, especially if it is tile, could become damaged or cracked simply because the substrate is not flat.

More and more properties today are being built with underfloor heating. It is becoming standard specification for higher-end homes, but is gradually being used in less expensive homes as well, as it becomes evident that the cost of installing radiator systems and underfloor heating is about the same, but that underfloor heating has several advantages.