Floor Screed

Screeders – Choosing the best for your project My name is Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. I'd like to take some time to tell you about the great reasons why Speed Screed provides the very best screeders to the construction industry. Choosing Screeders can be a challenge With all the focus on getting the screed mix right, it is easy to forget that to get the most from your screed you will need to hire the very best screeders. In fact, no matter how good your screed if it is installed incorrectly your floor with not stand the test of time. To help you look at why Speed Screed is one of the best screeding services in the UK today, I've put together some of the reasons why we consistently win awards and customer recommendations. High standards All our work meets the British Standard BS 8204-1:2003 for screed. In fact, in many cases, it exceeds this standard. Take a look at our great customer reviews and you will see that we h...

What is Cemfloor Screed? Cemfloor Screed is a cement-based flowing screed. Cemfloor Screed is effectively a mixture of cement, sand, superplasticizer, Cemfloor binder, and water. Cemfloor Screed is the result of the partnership between McGraths Limestone and Cemexa Technologies. The sole distributor of the product across the UK is McGraths Limestone. It’s a great additive for screed and it helps the screed to stay clean, avoid shrinkage, improve flowability, and achieve an overall amazing finishing. The Types There are three main types of Cemfloor Screed that you can get your hands on. All three of them have some unique characteristics and they cater to different needs when it comes to flooring. Cemfloor Therm Designed specifically for use with underfloor heating systems, Cemfloor Therm encapsulates the underfloor heating pipework and leaves no voids.  Combined with the screeds density the product ensures the best thermal conductivity around. Cemfloor NH Fr...

Cemex Supaflo - Flowing Screed Choice I’m Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed, and I’m here to talk about CEMEX Supaflo GENERAL OVERVIEW CEMEX Supaflo is a calcium sulphate based flowing screed. APPLICATIONS Perfect for: Residential/Commercial/Retail/Healthcare buildings Schools Floating, bonded and un-bonded construction Incorporation of electric or wet underfloor heating systems Timber, concrete and steel frame Supaflo is not suitable for: Permanently wet areas, such as commercial changing rooms/swimming pool surrounds Areas that require falls MIXING/SUPPLY CEMEX Supaflo is supplied directly from the screed manufacturer.  Supplied in ready-mixed truck mixers.  4/6/8/10 wheelers. The screed is then discharged into a specialist screed pump and then pumped into place. DRYING TIMES Approximately 1mm per day, up to 40mm. Beyond 40mm, 0.5mm per day. This is based on 20 degrees and 60 relative humidity After 7 days the screed can be forced dried to speed ...

Screed Fall From 90mm to 0mmScreed Fall From 90mm to 0mm.  Is that possible? I'm Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. Thank you very much for your question, Dean. Your question is: "Screed to fall from 90mm to 0mm, Is that possible? Watch Andy's video to find out his answer: Transcript: Hi, I'm Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the multi-award-winning Speed Screed. Thank you for your question, Dean, and that question is "screed fall from 90mm to 0mm. Is that possible?" It is with a single product. So you can do it with a single product, you could do it with modified sand and cement or a traditional screed . It would involve what they call a "toe" at the bottom end. So what you can't do on a level surface is have 90mm to 0mm. Indeed, there isn't a product on the market that will go down from 90mm to 0mm. So you can use multiple materials, so you could use two different materials to achieve that. You could a...

Just What Is Cement Screed? I'm Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. I'm here to talk about Cement Screed. Cement screed is one of the most traditional and well-known flooring materials.  It is easy to use and can be placed onto a precast concrete floor. The manufacture of the screed is a mixture of 1:3 or 1:4:5 of cement to sharp sand.  There are a wide variety of cement screeds available and the exact composition and use of these will be detailed by the individual manufacturer. Advantages of Cement Screed The screed can be bonded to a concrete base or alternatively, it can be placed directly onto a damp proof membrane.  It works well on underfloor heating projects which require cast-in pipes. The screed is strong but can be further reinforced by mixing in metal mesh, or polypropylene fibres. Cement screed may be left as the final finished surface in some mixes or it can be smoothed and used to lay a final flooring laye...

I’m Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. I’m here to talk about “floor screed drying time before tiling”. We know just how hard it is to wait for the screed to dry so that you can lay your floor tiles.  With today’s technology, you don’t have to wait, drying time can be controlled to suit your program. Typical Floor Screed Drying Time The range of floor screed drying times before tiling is quite wide, and here are examples based on 75mm think application. Standard Calcium Sulphate – 110 days Traditional Sand and Cement – 75-100 days Cementitious Belitex – 21 days Mapescreed 704 – 7 days Hydraulic Binder Fast Drying Screed – 24 hours Ardex A35 – 4 hours Moisture Testing The method for moisture test will depend on the screed type, however, the used methods are: Carbide bomb Hair hygrometer Protimeter Before laying any tiles, a moisture test needs to be carried out, as this is the only way to be sure that the screed is dry enough to receive the tiles. #...

The Essential Guide to Floor Screeding Getting it right – which floor screeding should you choose? Hi, my name is Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. Today, I am going to take a look at floor screeding, specifically how to choose the type of screeding to meet your needs. At the most basic level, floor screeding is simply applying a combination of sand, cement and water to an existing floor base to provide a strong, stable surface on which to apply a top flooring layer. Although the process is simple, there is a lot more to it than just placing the mixture and walking away. One of the most critical decisions is what type of floor screeding and construction you need. If you get this wrong, it can impact on the quality of the floor, the finish and, ultimately, how long it will last. If floor screeding is done badly, it can become a very expensive and time-consuming problem to rectify, so let's look at types of floor screeding and h...

So, can you let Speed Screed just lay in the Screed? Yes, you certainly can, we will be happy to do that. What I would say is that we do provide a 10 Year Guarantee which would only cover the Screed.  If we were to lay the insulation, membranes, underfloor heating, acoustics, etc then they would all be covered within the 10 Year Guarantee. The screed is only as good as the substrate that it’s sitting on. If the insulation is laid incorrectly with gaps that could cause thermal performance issues, you could also get induced cracking issues, where there might be steps, gaps or even rocking in the insulation, If you lay membranes, it is important to ensure that it’s correctly taped. If it’s a damp proof membrane, we ensure that there are no areas where there may be an ingress of moisture.  If we’re providing underfloor heating, we ensure the pipes are fully clipped, fully secured. If laying acoustic insulation, which may be on a domestic basis where we provide an edge strip to actually iso...

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Calcium Sulphate Screed - The Flowing Choice I'm Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. Let's talk about calcium sulphate screed.  Calcium Sulphate is the name of the binder that is used in the screed. Traditionally, all screeds generally are cement-based. This one is an exception and uses calcium sulphate rather than cement. Where Does Calcium Sulphate Screed Come From? It is a by-product of the chemical industry in the UK. Rather than going to a landfill, it gets milled and then is made available to the screed industry. What Are The Benefits Of Calcium Sulphate Screed? It certainly has a number of benefits over cement and we will just go over a few: Low-shrinkage Anything with water in will shrink as it dries, however with calcium sulphate screed there is far less shrinkage.    This is quite surprising as it is a liquid product in nature and it has a lot of water in mix so you would imagine the shrinkage is going to b...

All about Breedonflow Swiftscreed I’m Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. Today I’m here to give you a little more insight into Breedonflow Swiftscreed; I’ll talk about some of the technical specifications as well as the benefits of the product itself. A brief description of Breedonflow Swiftscreed Breedonflow Swiftscreed can be used in both domestic and commercial build projects prior to the final finished floor type being laid. Breedonflow Swiftscreed is equally at home with bonded flooring systems, unbonded flooring systems and floating flooring systems. It is compatible with most underfloor heating systems. Breedonflow Swiftscreed is safe to carry all types of pedestrian traffic in line with BS8204 standards in both domestic and commercial properties. We can, of course, advise further on this matter if needs be. What are the benefits of Breedonflow Swiftscreed? Standard cement screeds have to be applied more thickly; you can us...

I’m Andy Parkin, Managing Director at Speed Screed, a Multiple Award-Winning screed solution provider. Today I am here to talk about BRE drop hammer test or Screed test as it is also known. Screed use is a common construction practice, it is important to test the strength and soundness of screed. BRE drop hammer test is such a test. It was developed by the Building Research Station in the 1970’. It’s still considered one of the best screed test methods for measuring the In-Situ crushing resistance for various types of screeds. What is the Soundness of Screed? The soundness of screed is defined by the ability to withstand loads and traffic in any service area without crushing. The BRE drop hammer test is a certified method according to the British Standard BS 8204-1:2003 Annex D and E. Multiple factors go into determining the soundness of screed. The quality and characteristics of the screed change differently for each of these parameters. They are: The level of comp...

Can I polish latex screed?Can I polish latex screed? I'm Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. Thank you very much for your question, Terry. Your question is: "have a client who wants a polished concrete floor, but we do not have the height. Is there a latex we could polish?" Watch Andy's video to find out his answer: Latex screed isn't designed to be a final finish. It's just something there to smooth out the substrate, ready for the floor coverings to go on top. So if you are just looking to increase the height by a few millimetres, then what you really need is a micro cement. A micro cement can go down to around three millimetres. And once you've got the micro cement down, you can then polish, which will give you that polished concrete look. You can get it in different coloured pigments to get different appearances. Providing that the substrate is clean and tidy. You have got to watch out if there are any cracks o...

How long does floor screed take to dry? What is the average floor screed drying time? Click on the link below to find out more #screed #floorscreeding #screeddryingtime https://www.speed-screed.com/knowledge-centre/floor-screed-drying-time/

Floor Screed I’m Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. I’m here to talk about floor screed. Click the link to find out more: #screed #floorscreed #floorscreeding https://www.speed-screed.com/knowledge-centre/floor-screed/

info@speed-screed.com -  0800 242 5589 - www.speed-screed.com What Floor Screed Thickness Do You Need? I’m  Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi Award-Winning Speed Screed. Let us take a look at floor screed thickness. We are often asked: What thickness do I need? What thickness can I go down to? What is the thinnest? What is the maximum?” We need to put it into the context of the three main types of construction that you are likely to encounter when looking at floor screed thickness. Bonded First of all, you have got bonded.  That is where the screed is actually bonded directly to the substrate. Unbonded Unbonded, this is where the substrate has a membrane separating it from the screed. Floating And then floating. That is where you have got acoustic or thermal insulation in between the screed and the substrate, and you may also have a membrane as well. If we look at each different type, you’re going to have different floor screed thickness on the minimum and maximum depths. Bo...

Floor Levelling Compound https://www.speed-screed.com/knowledge-centre/floor-levelling-compound/

Biscuit Screed - Underfloor Heating I'm Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award-Winning Speed Screed. Just what is a biscuit screed? Biscuit Screed?  It is an unusual term, not often will you come across this as it is generally only relating to underfloor heating, and underfloor heating in between joists. There are other certain circumstances where a biscuit screed is used, however, 99% of the time you are looking at underfloor heating.  On the first floor, it is often a wooden joisted system.  You either leave the heating pipes surrounded by just air under the floorboards (not a very effective way of conducting the heat), use reflective plates on top of the joists, but this is still not as effective as using the heat storage capacity of the screed. The floor construction is joists, and in between, you have the underfloor heating pipes that may be clipped onto insulation or directly onto the boards. In between the joints, the biscuit screed goes over t...

Floor Insulation I’m Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed, and today I would like to discuss floor insulation. Floor insulation is a building regulation requirement for most homes. The effective solution for your building to resist heat loss is to install floor insulation. Understanding Types Of Floors Before we go deep into floor insulation, it’s important that you understand the types of floors. There are two main types of floors. Suspended Floors Solid Floors Insulating Suspended Floors The first order of business is to identify whether you have a suspended floor or not. If there is a void underneath the floorboards itself, you have got yourself a suspended floor (timber suspended floor). Suspended floors cause a lot of heat loss, without insulation. Suspended beam and block floors, will require damp proof membranes and insulation. Insulating Solid Floors When it comes to solid floors, they are not as prone to losing heat. Solid floors naturally off...

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Floating screed thickness – how thin can you go? I’m Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. Whenever we are talking about floating screed thickness, and generally we tend to be talking how thin a screed can go down to,  we have got to look and examine what the substrate is, and in this case it is a floating construction. Floating Construction When we say floating, it can be an acoustic insulation, or it can be thermal insulation. If you imagine the screed, it appears for all intents and purposes to be floating, sat on top of the insulation. The insulation may have a membrane over the top, it would always be recommended, and even more so if it has a silver foil backing to the insulation. Different Screeds You have a number of generic type products, and there are certain manufacturers making those products. Flowing Screed Flowing screed, calcium sulphate flowing screed is 35mm domestically and at 40mm commercially minimum depths onto insulation. The maxi...

Fibre Reinforced Screed Thickness Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award-Winning Speed Screed. I’m here today to talk about fibre reinforced screed thickness.  It is something that we are asked from time to time about. Exactly how thick can the screed go down to? Bonded Screed With the screed being laid onto a structural substrate, a traditional screed as defined by the British Standard will go down to 40 mm bonded. The screed should be bonded to the substrate using a primer/bonding agent or slurry mix. Floating Screed If it is floating construction, then it will go down to 65 mm for domestic and 75 mm for commercial applications. And when we say fibre reinforced, that is the polypropylene fibres in the sand and cement mix. Specialist Fibre Reinforced Screed There are other specialist semi-dry screeds that will allow you to go down as low as 10 mm bonded and 35 mm for floating construction. These screeds will also contain fibres. Smoothing compounds can contain micro-fibers ...

Floor screeders Hi, my name is Andy Parkin.  I am the Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed.  I am here to tell you about some of the main reasons why Speed Screed can make all the difference to the quality of your finished floor. Good floor screeders are a key factor in making sure your floor is finished to the highest standard.  At Speed Screed we pride ourselves on delivering the best floor screeding in the UK.  That may sound like a big claim, but our reputation speaks for itself. The principles of Speed Screed is attention to detail, excellent customer service and a commitment to finishing on time every time.  As floor screeders we not only supply the best quality screeds for commercial and domestic construction, but we also provide a skilled workforce.  We'll provide and install all your screeding for a variety of projects, including underfloor heating installation, acoustic insulation and membranes as required. All our services are provided nationwide, s...

info@speed-screed.com - 0800 242 5589  - www.speed-screed.com Floor Screed Thickness Over Insulation I’m Andy Parkin. Managing Director of the Multi Award-Winning Speed Screed. What does the thickness of screed need to be when you are putting it on top of insulation?  When we talk about insulation that can be either acoustic or thermal insulation. Acoustic Insulation If you are looking to sound proof an area, such as a multi occupancy building where there is a building regulation requirement. Or it might just be that you are wanting to make sure that you retain as much of the noise in the room as possible. Thermal Insulation With thermal insulation you are trying to keep as much of the heat in this time as opposed to generally keeping the noise in the room. When we talk about floating if will generally mean one of the two options above. If the insulation is foil backed a slip membrane over the top would be a must (even without foil it would be best practice to allow for a slip membran...

About us - Who are Speed Screed Limited?  A floor screeding company founded on the key principle of providing first-class customer service. It has since built itself an impressive reputation for delivering high-quality floor screeding across the United Kingdom. The company’s success is built on its belief in quality work, attention to detail, on-time completion, strong working partnerships, and top-level staff recruitment. Speed Screed supply levelling screeds into the commercial and domestic markets.  Our enhanced services include the supply and installation of underfloor heating, insulation, membrane and acoustic systems.  Also provide plastering, rendering, partitioning and dry lining services nationwide.  Customer service has always been a top priority and the company remains dedicated to achieving the very highest levels of customer satisfaction in every project that it undertakes. ‘Valued Engineering’ in tough economic times ensures value for money without compromise on performa...

Best Screed For Underfloor Heating? What Are Your Options? Andy discusses which screed you need I’m Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. I’m here today to talk about which is the Best Screed for Underfloor Heating. When we talk about which is the best screed for Underfloor Heating, a few factors may influence your choice. Here we set out to explore those options, and recommend the most suitable products on the market. Thermal Conductivity When looking for the best screed for Underfloor Heating, Thermal Conductivity is an extremely important factor to consider. The Definition Of Thermal Conductivity Is: “The Rate At Which Heat Passes Through A Specified Material, Expressed As The Amount Of Heat That Flows Per Unit Time Through A Unit Area With A Temperature Gradient Of One Degree Per Unit Distance” Flowing screeds have a higher density and therefore lend themselves to greater thermal conductivity. You may wish to consider th...

Is asphalt floor screed a blast from the past? I'm Andy Parkin, Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed. I'm here to talk about Asphalt Floor Screed. Asphalt floor screed is also known as mastic asphalt has a multitude of applications.  It works well in areas that need levelling and if there is a problem with insulation or damp and is a great option. Asphalt floor screed is made by combining specific bitumens and aggregates with limestone filler.  It provides a good, smooth, hard-wearing floor surface, making it popular in construction. The addition of other polymers means that it can be flexible and resistant to crack formation.  Not only can it outlast most other types of domestic, commercial and industrial floor screeds, but it is also very easy to lay and it cools rapidly, meaning it can be in-situ and foot traffic ready in just a few hours. Key uses include: Drainage falls Levelling surfaces Creating stable bases for other construct...

75mm Floor Screed, Which screed is suitable? Andy Looks at the options. I’m Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi-Award Winning Speed Screed.  Today I would like to talk about 75mm Floor Screed. When talking about a 75mm Floor screed, the substrate needs to be identified.  Do you have concrete (bonded), membrane (unbonded), or floating (onto thermal or acoustic insulation)?  At this depth, lots of products are suitable, however thin smoothing compounds, and some screeds with long drying times at this depth may not be suitable. The ability to lay 75mm Floor screed will depend on the type of substrate. If we take the discussed substrates one by one and identify suitable products for this depth. 75mm Floor Screed - Bonded Gypsol or Gyvlon - flowing screed Keracem Eco – fast drying screed Topcem – fast drying screed Retanol Extreme – fast drying screed Mapescreed 704 – fast drying screed Traditional sand and cement screed Unbonded Gypsol or Gyvlon - fl...

I am Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi-Award-Winning Speed Screed and today I would like to talk about Screed Vertical control joints in floor screed. Screed Vertical control joints are essential in projects once the bay size exceeds the screed manufacturer guidelines. #screedjoints #screed #floorscreed #verticalcontroljoint https://www.speed-screed.com/knowledge-centre/screed-vertical-control-joint/