epsilonGreedy Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I am considering bringing up the floor from block & beam to screeded FFL in one small section of the house in advance of the mainfloor flow screeding of about 60 m2. This 11 m2 section of the floor will not have UFH and will connect to the main floor at one door threshold. My options seem to be traditional dry screed cement & sand mixed on site or 42 bags of Webber 4360 flow screed also mixed on site then poured manually as in this training video: Zero Skill Floor Screeding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0O_Ldb70z0 Has anyone tackled a floor screed task of this size without prior screeding experience? I have already discovered that a dry sand/cement floor screen should not be mixed in a conventional tumble mixer which means I will have to hire an electric horizontal paddle mixer. The dry screed make up would be 150mm of EPS + 75mm of screed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 You can mix normal sand cement screed in a mixer so it is just moist. Laying it takes a lot of skill. I would not attempt this myself but please let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 (edited) I've wondered about DIY floor screeds after reading posts about high and low spots in professional floor screeds and also the house next to mine had a professional company in to do theirs and were shocked how out it was after they went to fit large floor tiles. Needed a lot of grinding down and filling in. So I wondered if doing the floor DIY but leaving it slightly lower, then using a self levelling compound would work? I don't know if it would bond properly (I assume it would as I surely SLC can go onto a screed?) and I don't know if there would be any issues with UFH............................................... Edited March 11, 2021 by Vijay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 My builder, despite being “well able”, gets a company in to liquid pour screed, he told me the labour and materials were not worth the faff, cheaper in the long run and guaranteed dead flat. confusius, he say “work smarter, not harder! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 5 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said: 42 bags of Webber 4360 flow screed You’ll pay through the nose for that. You also need to hire a putz mixer as you’ll have no end of issues as whilst you “can” mix that much by hand you wouldn’t want to ..!! There is 4 hours solid of mixing - first stuff will be going off before the last is in, and that’s assuming you’re using a decent paddle mixer. By the time you’ve hired mixers etc, a crew would have that done and laid in a couple of hours. 75mm is also the bare minimum for sand and cement - ideally you would add fibres at that thickness. If you want to DIY quick then just use concrete - leave it 5-8mm shy and top with SLC. It’s less than a cube so £175 on a volumetric mixer. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 So just checked and I would pay £8.18 ex VAT per bag for that. So £410 all in for the liquid screed. Can do the whole lot for half that and no mixing with concrete. It’s a no brainer..!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 On 11/03/2021 at 14:44, Mr Punter said: You can mix normal sand cement screed in a mixer so it is just moist. The problem mixing a dry screed in a mixer is that it tumbles a mixture consisting of small rolling balls around the drum and this results in insufficient mixing of the sand and cement. I have seen this before when operating my mixer onsite. The hire of a horizontal paddle mixer (sometime called a forced action mixer) seems quite cheap. In view of what @PeterWis saying about 75mm of sand/cement screed being barely enough I might up the depth to 100mm which leads to about 1.5 tons of the stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 On 11/03/2021 at 17:49, Vijay said: I've wondered about DIY floor screeds after reading posts about high and low spots in professional floor screeds and also the house next to mine had a professional company in to do theirs and were shocked how out it was after they went to fit large floor tiles. Needed a lot of grinding down and filling in. I would not consider DIY screeding the whole of the ground floor, 70 m2 in my case. I just want a better site office and one appendage to the floor plan creates an option to get one room in the house operational. If a consistent level is your concern how about opting for an anhydrous flow screed, these are more fluid than other screed types. Also if your house falls short of passiv standards an anhydrous screed will be more thermally responsive to heating cycles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 23 hours ago, PeterW said: If you want to DIY quick then just use concrete - leave it 5-8mm shy and top with SLC. Oh interesting, not an option I had considered. Concrete on top of insulation, hmmm I suppose this is what the passiv slabs are but on a bigger scale. I was concerned about the amount of foot traffic on the other screed types because this 11 m2 of floor area will be the main entrance to the house for a year or two before the whole of the ground floor is tiled. For the benefit of others SLC = Sand Latex Floor Leveling Compound. So @PeterWyou are suggesting a layup similar to a posh smooth garage workshop? 23 hours ago, PeterW said: It’s less than a cube so £175 on a volumetric mixer. I think I had ruled out cement because a conventional wagon will not get closer than 9 meters to this floor. Your post has got me wondering what the flow screeders who mix on site, would charge for such a small job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 1.2 cubic metres is about 20 barrow loads .. 2 people on barrows, 1 rough spreading and it would be done in 20 mins. SLC - Self Levelling Compound, 5mm thick on 11m would be 4-5 bags so £50 if you buy smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 If using b and b I always use a self compacting concrete on top. Its basically a skill free task. Stands up better to site traffic. Just slightly more expensive than normal concrete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 You will pay double to do that small area instead of letting the guys that do the rest of the house add it on and do it at the same time. Why do you need to screed it to just make it a temporary office if you have block n beam floor what’s wrong with that for a while longer. And why no underfloor heating, this cold room of yours you will come to regret, get it to the same spec as the main house or it will be an unpleasant place bolted on to a nice house. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 If the 11m2 is just for a more habitable site office you could insulated and then cover with floating chipboard floor. 10 sheets will cost £100 and easy to lay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 On 13/03/2021 at 09:10, Mr Punter said: If the 11m2 is just for a more habitable site office you could insulated and then cover with floating chipboard floor. 10 sheets will cost £100 and easy to lay. I am coming around to this idea, it gets the office up and running quickly. Then I can flow screed the whole ground floor later as a single job. The marginal cost of flow screeding an extra 11 m2 is smaller than the other partial screeding options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 If it’s only 11sqm then 4 standard sheets will do with a few thin offcuts under the joints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted March 30, 2021 Author Share Posted March 30, 2021 1 hour ago, PeterW said: If it’s only 11sqm then 4 standard sheets will do with a few thin offcuts under the joints. Thanks yes it seems like the most flexible and least-cost option, particularly since I have 3 sheets of 100mm expanded polystyrene going spare on site. Please see my follow-on thread seeking guidance on the right wood sheet for the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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