One of the most important things to factor into the construction of a new building is the flooring. Whatever type of flooring has been chosen, the surface upon which it is laid needs to be as flat and level as possible. This is critical in the case of things which are going to be fixed with an adhesive, such as tile or stone. If a tile is not laid on a completely level surface it can very easily crack as it gets walked on.
For many years now, it has been usual to lay a flooring screed over the substrate and/or any insulation, and traditionally this has been of sand and cement. The screed would usually be mixed on site in a cement mixer, barrowed into position, and then laid and levelled by a worker on hands and knees using a trowel.
As you can imagine, this is a fairly lengthy process. It also means that there are differences in the mix of the screed because each batch is mixed in the cement mixer, so every spadeful that goes in will be somewhat different from the last one and the next one in terms of quantity. For this reason, on larger contracts today, many contractors use ready-mixed screed delivered to site because the quality will be more consistent. Nonetheless, the actual laying process is tedious, with an average worker only able to lay up to 100 square metres in a day.
This is just one reason why liquid screeds have become so much more popular over the last 20 years. If you need a floor screed in Basildon, our liquid screeds at UK Screeds can be laid at up to 2,000 square metres a day – 20 times as fast as sand and cement.
Liquid Format
This is because the screed is in liquid format. Instead of cement, our liquid screed uses anhydrous (dry) calcium sulphate which becomes gypsum when mixed with water. The screed is delivered to the site ready-mixed and then what we do is attach a pump and a long hose to the truck and pump the screed into place.
Now, because it is liquid it is also self-levelling. All we need to do is to disconnect the hose and then go over the screed in two directions with a dappling bar in order to remove any air bubbles, and then we leave it to dry.
Another advantage of our liquid screed is that it will be dry enough to walk within as little as 24 hours, and certainly within 48, depending upon weather conditions. That means that other contractors who need to work on the site are not unduly held up.
Liquid screed is also far more eco-friendly than sand and cement, as up to 36% of the product is made from recycled content, and the amount of CO2 produced is also much less than sand and cement. In addition, our liquid screed can be laid more thinly than a traditional screed, so less material is required.
