Screed Care

Hello Folks,
Welcome to our screed care section. I am your screed doctor, and I am here to make sure that all screeds stay healthy and strong.

In the course of my long career as the official screed doctor, I have tended to many a screed with afflictions ranging from cracking and curling to serious issues arising from inappropriate judgement of floor level, surface regularity, bay sizes, screed drying times and screed compatibility, and the list just goes on.

I must say, I have been really shocked to see how many screeds succumb to an early demise, just because the real cause of affliction is not diagnosed correctly or because appropriate intervention isn’t initiated on time

And, contrary to common perception, it is not just those weak, inexpensive screeds that are prone to such serious screed issues. I have seen expensive screeds laid by expert screeders crumbling miserably because of the lack of appropriate screed care during the crucial post-installation stages.

That was when I thought, I seriously have to do something to help protect the screeds before it is too late to intervene. I called up my old friend, the charming old Screed Scientist. We put our bald heads together. And we finally came up with this idea of an educational campaign to create awareness about the important screed care steps, complemented by a professional and reliable screed testing service to detect any signs of flaws right at the root.

We sincerely hope, our initiative will help each new screed to turn out to be sturdy, strong and flawless, and help you keep your budget in check.

Caring for your screed

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of internal and external factors that affect the quality of a screed. Right from the level of the substrate and the consistency of the screed to the surface regularity, soundness and moisture content of the installed screed, the regulation of the traffic on the site, the weather conditions and the adoption of appropriate screed care measures – there are a lot of factors that affect the final quality of the screed. A flaw in any of these can seriously affect the quality at a later stage, making repair works at the latter stages quite expensive and tedious.

Prevention is always better than cure

Keeping your eyes open for the little signs and symptoms is the first step to keep your screed healthy. The tell-tale signs of cracks at the joints, the curling of screed at the edges, minor variations in surface regularity – these are all simple signs which if left unaddressed for long, can lead to serious issues which will be hard to resolve later.

So, the best thing to do is follow a simple and systematic approach of monitoring and inspection at each level of screeding, ensuring all the way that the standards at that stage conforms to the expected standard. If in serious doubt at any stage, the best thing to do is go for a professional screed test and initiate remedial action immediately.

Screed Problems: Common signs and their remedies

I have listed above some of the general problems with screeds, their signs and ways to prevent/ rectify them. I hope this will be a useful guide to spot the little problems with your screed before they become too late or expensive to rectify. But, as individual problems may vary due to internal and external factors specific to the particular case, it is always ideal to seek the advice of an expert before initiating remedial action. In case you would like any advice or information on your particular screed issue, please feel free to post your message here, and I will answer your question personally.

Yours Sincerely,
The Screed Doctor

Reference and further reading:

• Screeds, flooring and finishes – selection, construction and maintenance, CIRIA Report 184
• BRE Building Elements, Floors and Flooring – performance, diagnosis, maintenance, repair and the avoidance of defects