When constructing a building of any sort one of the most important considerations is the floor. It may seem an obvious thing to say, but it needs to be as flat and level as possible. (There is one exception and that is if it is a wet room, where the floor has to slope).
You don’t want to lay the final floor surface on something such as concrete because it won’t be flat and level. For instance, if you lay tile directly on to a concrete substrate, then there is every chance that those tiles are going to break when people walk on them. You can’t really lay carpet on it either. Nor can you lay wood flooring.
The answer is what is known as a screed which is a surface that is laid on top of the substrate (and perhaps insulation if fitted). Even so, it has to be as flat as possible. There is a measurement of surface regularity according to the British Standards Code of Practice which measures deviation from a two-metre straightedge that is laid on the screed and is counted as SR1 (High Standard), SR2 (Normal Standard) and SR3 (Utility Standard). Ideally all screeds should achieve a minimum of SR2 which allows for deviation (measured using a slip gauge) of up to 5mm. SR1 is 3mm, while SR3 is 10mm.
At Top Mix, we produce a flowing cement screed in Birmingham which will always achieve SR2 and usually SR1.
Pumped Into Position
A flowing cement screed is delivered to your site and pumped into position. Since it is in liquid format it is effectively self-levelling, in much the same way as if you fill a glass with water, the surface will settle down and become flat. (In fact, these are also known as self-levelling screeds).
Using a flowing cement screed in Birmingham on you project will save huge amounts of time. When you use an ordinary sand and cement screed it has to be barrowed on to the site and laid. Then it is levelled by a worker using a trowel.
In order to be as level as possible (although it probably won’t be better than SR3) a worker is unlikely to be able to do more than 100 square metres a day. Conversely, when you use our liquid flowing screed, we can cover up to 2,000 square metres in a day. That is a huge difference and saves a large amount on labour costs.