Screed for Underfloor Heating - Experts Guide

What's the best screed for your wet underfloor heating?

Screeding in London is important for underfloor heating. For an efficient setup from your water-based or wet underfloor heating (UFH), working with a solid floor you’ll need to lay the pipework into something that aids the transfer of heat. That’s where screeds and high quality creeding in London come in, with common options being ‘dry’ versions and ‘self-levelling’ types. As our screeders in London know, these allow you to prepare the surface for the finished floor covering, but also act to absorb warmth from the UFH pipework and radiate it into the room above. 

This kind of floor screed in London properties has excellent thermal mass, which helps to maintain comfortable temperatures as well as reducing energy and running costs. Whatever floor screed London properties have, they should be laid as quickly as possible after the UFH is in place to minimise the risk of damage to the pipework, and the system should be pressure-tested for leaks before work begins, and pressure maintained while the screed is laid. 
For underfloor heating, heating elements are usually encased in a layer of floor screed in London premises before the final floor covering. With hydronic underfloor heating, heating pipes are usually secured to insulation panels on the floor slab fitted with moisture barriers, where screeders in London create a layer laid over this to provide a level surface for installing the final floor finish.

Though traditional sand screeds are used in London, cement screeds are generally used by screeders in London properties with over underfloor heating, a time-consuming option as the screeds require a long time period for drying sufficiently to take on the final floor covering. 

An underfloor heating system cannot be utilised to accelerate the drying process as it can result in the cracking of screed due to quick-drying, something our screeders in London always tell customers. Fast Drying Floor screeds in London properties help overcome this issue, drying faster than traditional screeds, be the concrete or sand screeds used in London premises while allowing the screed mix to hydrate fully. An example for fast drying screed is Isocrete K-Screed fast drying floor screeds. 

Underfloor heating (UFH) is a highly efficient form of space heating that generates heat through electric or hydronic heating elements embedded beneath the surface of the floor. The heating elements are typically secured to insulation panels on the floor slab and the screed floor layer in London properties is installed over the heating elements before laying the final floor finish.

A good quality screed or floor screed in a London property, laid to the right depth helps to retain the heat for longer hours, reducing the energy required at the source and improving the energy efficiency of the UFH system.