floor screeding

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ian

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hey up lads .... got to sreed 3 floors next week .. whats the best mix ratios .. ive always erred on the side of a stronger mix .. whats best ? .. 4 sharp / grit sand to 1 cement, just enough water to bind ... many thanks
 
I would always go for 3 sand to 1 cement mix , mixed semi dry ( just wet enough to form a snowball in your hands ) the easiest way I have found to mix my screed is to soak the sand first before mixing . try not to add water to the mix at all . and do not leave the stuff in the mixer to long or it will turn to balls ( literally) Alternatively get the customer to pay for ready mixed screed . the stuff will be a joy to use and all you have to do is get it into the floor. PS do not forget to pre-treat your concrete sub base with ideally a PVA/cement slurry before laying

Good luck with the job hope you don,t get sore knees
 
nice one lads ... think the floors are just gonna get laminate flooring over the top , ones gonna be tiled ... thanks for the advice . 3 to 1 with just enough water .. not to sure i understand about soaking the sand first but not adding any water . just out of interest , what is the minimum depth i can lay ? ...
 
The problem with mixing screed is that if you put the water in the mixer as if you were mixing normal sand/cement, the mix tends to stick to inside of the mixer and it is quite hard to get the right consistancy so the pile of sand that is sitting patiently next to the mixer needs to be soaked with water so that it is very damp to start with. Then just add the damp sand to the cement keeping the correct ratio and you should be ok. I was shown this method many years ago and it has saved me so much time and heartache because floor laying is hard enought with out dodgy stuff to contend with.

Your depths are going to be dictated by door frames/thresholds etc or perhaps skirting boards if they are fixed. Ideally screed should be at least 50mm thick.
 
cheers mate .. see what you are meaning now ... ive just been to have a look at the job .. dont think its possible . the floor has been concreted upto the bottom of the damp proof course , which would mean at the minimum level of 2.5 inches i would be nearly bridging the dpc . also the new door casings are in situ.. am i right in saying its pretty much a none starter. it seems that the concreting has been done without taking into account the floor being screeded.
 
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