Home  /  Screeds

Screeds

Screeds for every constraint.

Screeds for every constraint. Liquid, flowing, self-compacting and traditional screeds, including screeds and structural toppings on precast concrete planks, installed with our own placing booms where access is tight and time is short.

The work

The right screed for the deck and the deadline

We install screeds across upper decks, ground floors and roofs, matching the system to the structure, the finish and the programme. Hospitals, schools, multi-storey frames, data halls and secure facilities all feature, on projects from around £15,000 to £2m and beyond.

Self-compacting and flowing screeds let us cover large areas quickly and reach restricted spaces, without the late working that traditional methods can demand. That is usually the reason we are on the job. If a building has to keep running while its floors go in, the screed system and the placing method have to be chosen together, and most of the market only sells one of the two.

Proof, not promises. You get the surface regularity survey and the records, not an assurance.

On site

Large areas, covered quickly and cleanly.

Pumped flowing screed self-levelling across a large open floor plate.

Scoping

First, is it a screed you need?

Worth settling early, because it is the most common mis-tender we see. We deliver both, so there is no incentive here to talk you into either.

A screed

A levelling layer laid over a base or a structural deck. It creates the finished level and the surface the floor covering sits on. It is not the structure. If the drawings show a structural deck with a topping over it, you want a screed.

An in-situ concrete floor

The structural slab itself, usually power floated to a hard, durable finish that is walked and driven on directly. If the drawings show the slab as the finished floor, see concrete flooring.

Systems

Which screed system

Service

Flowing screed, also called liquid screed

Pumped, self-levelling, fast over large areas and the best method for underfloor heating because it fully encases the pipes. The default choice for large floor plates and occupied buildings.

Read moreService

Self-compacting screed

Consolidates under its own weight, so there is no power floating and therefore no late or night working on site. Where the site will not permit finishing crews on the deck in the evening, this is the system that solves it.

Read moreService

Screeds on precast planks

Not a different material so much as a different problem. Precast and hollowcore decks on upper floors need the screed getting up there, which is a placing question before it is a screed question.

Read more
System

Traditional sand & cement

Still right for small, chopped-up or heavily detailed areas, for steep falls, and where a bonded screed at depth is specified. Slower and more labour-intensive over a large floor plate, which is why the pumped systems have taken most of the market.

Scoping

The decision you are actually making

Five questions set the price and the programme. Answer them at tender and the job runs clean.

  • Which binder, and what is going on top? Flowing screeds are broadly calcium sulphate based (anhydrite) or cementitious. Calcium sulphate flows well and is widely used, but it is moisture-sensitive and usually needs its surface laitance removing before adhered floor coverings. Cementitious avoids both and costs more. The finishes schedule should decide this.
  • Bonded, unbonded or floating? Each has a different minimum depth and a different tolerance for a base that is out of level. Floating over insulation is the normal arrangement with underfloor heating.
  • What surface regularity class is specified? The BS 8204 class changes the method and the price.
  • What is the drying programme? Moisture-sensitive floor coverings drive the drying, and drying often drives the fit-out. This is the item most likely to bite a programme, and it should be designed rather than assumed.
  • Can the deck be reached? On upper floors this is the whole job. If plant has to be craned up, the price and the programme change. If it does not, they do not.

Standards

Tolerances and standards

Screed surface regularity is normally specified to BS 8204, measured as the maximum deviation under a 2m straightedge:

Screed materials are separately classified by binder type under BS EN 13813, which is what the manufacturer's declaration of performance refers to.

Where the work is an in-situ concrete floor rather than a screed, flatness is specified to TR34 as an FM classification instead. Different standard, different test, different survey.

Completed pumped screed floor installed by Trent across a large open floor plate

Capability

Plant and crews, self-delivered

Our own operatives, our own pumps, our own placing booms, start to finish.

Placing is the differentiator. We run our own concrete line pumps and track-mounted placing booms, rare kit in this country. They deliver screed across upper decks and into restricted spaces without craning plant up, which is why we can price work that other screeding subcontractors decline.

Because the plant is ours, the placing method is planned as part of the works rather than bolted on afterwards. Pump positions, hose runs, boom set-up, outrigger loadings and wash-out are all agreed before we mobilise. More on the company and the plant at about Trent.

Programme

Output, programme and constraints

Pumped screed covers ground fast. The limit is almost never the screed, it is the access, the number of pump set-ups the building allows, the delivery route, and how much of the deck is genuinely ready. We programme from the ready date backwards.

  • Live and occupied buildings. Hospitals, schools and operational facilities where the working day belongs to someone else. Clean, contained, pumped methods and phasing agreed around the operation.
  • No late working. Where evening and night shifts are not permitted, self-compacting systems remove the power floating step that forces them.
  • Upper decks. Placing booms reach floors at height without craning plant up.
  • Restricted access. Tight gates, low headroom, live yards, limited set-up space. Reach is planned, not improvised.
  • Phased programmes. Screed delivered in sections around other trades, with day joints designed to suit the phasing.
  • Honesty about readiness. If the insulation, the underfloor heating, the edge detailing or the deck preparation will not be complete when the programme says, we say so at tender rather than on the day the pump is booked.

Proof

Evidence and documentation

  • Surface regularity survey against the specified BS 8204 class
  • Delivery tickets and batch records
  • Pour records: area, depth, date and conditions
  • Manufacturer's declaration of performance for the system installed
  • Moisture readings before floor coverings where we are asked to take them
  • RAMS issued and agreed before mobilisation
  • Sign-off pack at handover

Constructionline Gold registered, Avetta and SSIP accredited, and a member of the Nuclear Industry Association. Tier 1 main contractors we deliver for include VINCI, McLaren, Costain, Kier, Interclass, Tomlinson, SMD, Actavo, Tarmac and Veolia.

If you tender screed projects regularly, how we work with main contractors sets out what we commit to.

FAQs

Common questions

Which screed system is right for my project?
It depends on the deck, the finish and the programme. We match flowing, self-compacting or traditional screed to suit and advise you. Send the drawings and the finishes schedule and you will get a straight recommendation.
What is the difference between flowing screed and liquid screed?
None. Flowing screed, liquid screed, flow screed and self-levelling screed all describe a pumped screed that consolidates under its own weight.
Can you reach upper decks?
Yes, via our track-mounted placing booms. No craning plant up.
Can screed be laid in occupied buildings?
Yes. Pumped systems are fast and low-disruption, which suits live environments with careful phasing. It is a large part of what we do.
Can you avoid night working?
Usually. Self-compacting systems remove the power floating step, which is normally what forces late shifts on a screeded deck.
Do you screed to falls?
Yes. Roof and plant screeds are laid to the specified gradients.

Got a flooring or screed project coming up?

Send us the drawings and the specification, and we'll tell you straight whether we can deliver it, and how.

Discuss your project