FLOOR SCREED INSTALLATION IN SHREWSBURY.
There are many advantages to using liquid floor screed, whether you are planning to cover underfloor heating, level an uneven existing floor or lay a base for a new project, GM Brook Liquid Floor Screeds Ltd in Shrewsbury have got the ideal screed for you.
TYPES OF FLOOR SCREED
To get the best results from your new underfloor heating, we recommend you lay an Anhydrite based pumpable screed. This gives you the best thermo-conductive properties possible which can make your boiler work more efficiently, helping to reduce your overall heating costs. The Anhydrite based screed has a pan flat finish and is ideal for any floor covering that you have in mind, whether it's tiles, engineered timber or a vinyl tile.
If you need a screed that will be over 75mm deep, we would advise you to lay a cementitious based screed as this is more cost effective for the increase in material volume.
For uneven floors, you have a couple of choices - you can use a low profile Anhydrite pumpable screed that can be as low as 12mm. We can also mix self-levelling compound on site which will blend into the existing floor and go up to 30mm in depth.
If time is against you and you need your screed to dry as fast as possible, we offer a fast drying Anhydrite screed that can be dry as soon as 10-15 days. This has a finished floor like any other Anhydrite screed and is suitable for all types of floor covering.
The average drying time of freshly laid creed is 1mm per day for the first 40mm and then 0.5mm per day thereafter.
AFTER SCREED CARE
Once you have had Liquid Floor Screed laid into your property, it is vital that you follow the aftercare guidelines that have been given to you by the installer at that time. Aftercare is essential for a number of reasons not only to aid the drying process but also to minimise any problems that may arise from any external contractors that may follow on from the laying of the liquid floor screed.
It doesn't matter what kind of Anhydrite floor screed you have had laid, whether its Exelior Fast Drying or standard top flow — all need the same process of after care to allow them to be covered safely without any repercussions.
All doors and windows should have been fitted prior to the screed being laid — if not, then all of these openings need to be covered allowing no gaps for rain or wind to travel through. The problem with not covering these gaps is that it allows rain drops to fall on the fresh laid floor causing dimple marks that are near on impossible to get out. Also, any breeze that is allowed to flow over the surface will not only cause ripple marks but also an uneven drying time across the floor, effecting any process that may follow.
You only need to keep all doors and windows closed for 24 hours; this allows all the laitance from the floor to dry on the screed surface. As soon as this happens it is recommended that the windows and doors are opened to allow any moisture to escape. If they are not open, then any moisture will fall and re-enter the floor, increasing the drying time.
We recommend that any time between 5 and 10 days after the laying you sand the surface of the Anhydrite floor with an industrial orbital sander — you need to sand off all of the laitance from the surface which is clearly visible. You might need to sand just the top 2-3mm off. This comes off relatively easily, but patience is the key. If you leave the sanding time any later than 10 days, things become very difficult.
The longer you leave the time to sand, the harder the floor gets, making sanding very tricky and longer to do. Sanding the floor surface is the most important after care process involved with the screeding process — a failure to do this will trap any moisture and almost certainly ruin whatever floor covering you have planned. Tiles will lift from the floor once the underfloor heating is turned on and any vinyl flooring will rot over time.
Don't forget to sand the floor!