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 screed has very many advantages over and above the traditional sand and cement screed which has been in use for years. In some respects, it is similar to when cars arrived on the scene over 100 years ago. Up until then we had horses and carriages, and we had those for a long time. In fact, the first use of a horse and carriage was as long ago as 1900 BC. That’s BC – not last century!
Then the internal combustion engine was invented, and we had cars. While horses and carriages, or horses and carts, didn’t disappear overnight (if you are old enough you may just remember the milkman delivering milk with his horse and cart) you don’t see a lot of those about today trotting up the M1.
So it is with liquid screed. It is rapidly taking over from sand and cement. The latter is still around, but probably won’t be for too much longer because liquid anhydrite screed has so many advantages.
To begin with, it is so much faster to install. Sand and cement is mixed on site in a cement mixer, and laid on the substrate by hand, with a man levelling it out using a trowel.
How very last century!
Our liquid screed is delivered to site ready mixed and poured into position using a hose and a pump. Because it is liquid it is as nearly self-levelling as you can get, and just needs dappling from above in order to remove any air bubbles. We use a laser to get it as flat and level as possible. We can install our liquid screed almost 20 times as fast as sand and cement can be installed, and even then, it will be more level.
However, we don’t just supply and install liquid screed, but underfloor heating in Gloucestershire as well. And not just in Gloucestershire but through the rest of England Wales as well. In fact, the demand for underfloor heating and for liquid screed is expanding so rapidly that we will shortly be providing our services in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well.
However, unlike cars and liquid screed, underfloor heating is nothing new. The Romans had it, and there is some evidence that it goes back at least 7,000 years! They cut channels in the floor, covered them with stones, and used strategically place fires to heat them. Just what you need in your cave on a cold winter’s night when you are carefully cutting patterns into the rock walls. (They had no TV, poor souls).
However, fast forward a few thousand years and today we still have underfloor heating, but the technology has come on in leaps and bounds.
We install water-based underfloor heating which uses a pipe system filled with water which is heated from a heat source. It is far superior to radiators for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is that a radiator system works by convection. The radiator heats the air around it which rises to the ceiling, because hot air rises, and is then dispersed around the room. Where the heat arrives depends on where the radiators are situated and a number of other factors, so there will be hot spots – by the radiators – and cold spots elsewhere.
Our underfloor heating system produces heat evenly right across the room so there are no cold spots. It also uses considerably less energy to heat the room so there is not only a saving on energy costs, but it is also more eco-friendly. It can also be powered by air-source or ground-source heat pumps making it even more so.
Furthermore, our liquid screed has far better heat transfer properties than sand and cement and there are other benefits too, such as the fact that it will totally envelop the heating pipes without leaving any gaps or voids, so the heat transfer is completely even. In addition, the screed can be laid more thinly than sand and cement, which also helps with the speed of heating up the room and keeping down the cost of energy.
For more details on underfloor heating and liquid anhydrite screeds, talk to one of our friendly team on 01865 660026 or email: info@ukscreedsltd.co.uk.
