Whenever you have ever encountered lids cracking without any apparent cause or have ever had some wobbly floors as you walk on them, you have been subjected to what happens when you skip proper preparations of the floor. In the Melbourne property market, whether it be a property renovation at Fitzroy terrace or Southbank apartments, your flooring base could be your break or make or break.
Call 0414 060 534 for a free phone consultation with our licensed & Professional Floor Screeding team.
Screeding floors is not glamorous, but completely essential to good flooring. Consider it as the necessary barrier between your concrete slab and that marvelous tiling in the kitchen or that slick timber floor you are going to have.
What Is Screeding the Floors?
Floor screeding simply means the addition of a level surface on a concrete subfloor to a smooth level. This offers a perfectly smooth surface that is required in the laying of tiles, carpet, vinyl, timber, or polished concrete. Normally, the screed content is cement and sand, although the contemporary version includes self-leveling screeds as well as liquid screeds.
Another fact that most homeowners of Melbourne are unaware of is that even new concrete slabs are not often straight enough to have quality floors. The reactive clay soils of Melbourne have a notorious reputation for causing ground movement such that slabs that have been laid in place are thrown out of level due to the settling of buildings.
The reason why Melbourne Properties should be screened well
The unusual weather conditions in Melbourne such as blazing summer and rainy winters make screeding even more essential. The variations in temperature make materials expand and contract, and unless screed properly, floors will develop cracks and undulations that will increase with time.
Establishes an Ideal Background
Even slight differences which your eye may not notice bring actual trouble. Big tiles made of tiles break due to foot traffic; timber boarding has cracks and adhesives cannot stick well on uneven surfaces.
Enables Underfloor Heating
Underfloor heating has gained popularity in Melbourne as the winters are very cold. Screed wraps elements of heating and offers good heat transfer, thus making your system to be more efficient and saves on the cost of energy.
Critical for Wet Areas
Laundry and bathrooms should be screeded to form the slopes that guide water to the drains. This eliminates pooling and avoids water destruction and mold- especially needed during the moisture-filled summer in Melbourne.
Protects Your Investment
When you are investing thousands of high-quality finishes, correct screeding will make your flooring last you years and decades.
Screed types at Melbourne Homes.
Conventional Sand and Cement Screed.
The standard has proven to be very economical at 35-45 per square meter. It can be used in most home projects, and it is durable and versatile, but needs experienced installation, and also takes longer to dry.
Self-Leveling Screed
These contemporary compounds run to form a perfectly flat surface that has not been hand-levelled. They are best suited to fast makeovers or inaccessible places such as Melbourne apartments. Averagely, pay 50-60 per square meter.
Liquid Flow Screed
Ideal as under floor heating since it does not have air holes around the pipes. It is able to cover a lot of space within a short time-hundreds of square meters in one day. This is the high-end one of 55-70 per square meter.
Fast-Drying Options
Given that you have a tight schedule, rapid-drying formulations save you weeks of waiting that you can spend in a few days. They are expensive but keep you renovated.
Bathroom Screening: Bathroom Essential in Melbourne
Otherwise, when you must scream, your bathroom is the one place you cannot afford to do without. The Melbourne building regulation has the need for certain slope drainage, and quality screeding is the way to get to the desired slope.
Call 0414 060 534 for a free phone consultation with our licensed Professional Floor Screeding team.
Professional bathroom screeding forms the required gradient (usually 1:100) to channel water to drains as well as giving waterproofing membranes a stable basis. Most upscale redesigns in Melbourne are now employing waterproofing beneath the screed and above in order to protect against water infiltration as much as possible.
In the case of shower bases in particular; the screed should make falls on all sides in the direction of the waste- precise work, within millimeter precision by laser levels.
What is the duration of the drying process of screed?
That is the question to which every renovator would reply, and the answer to which is to be found in the kind of screed you are dealing with:
Conventional Sand-Cement Screed: It is usually one day in every millimeter of depth, at a maximum of 50mm. Thus, a standard 50mm screed should take about 50 days to be waterproof to flooring, but tiling may commence after 7-14 days.
Self-Leveling Compounds: Most of them are used to support foot traffic in 24 hours and are prepared to be tiled in 48-72 hours.
Fast-Drying Screed: There are those which can be used in installation of flooring in a matter of days.
The climate of Melbourne influences such periods. Summer months are humid and therefore the rate of evaporation slows down, and during dry winter months the air will dry the surface and crack it unless the screen is covered appropriately. Before the flooring is installed, the surest method is to test the moisture before doing so.
Sleading or Floating Floors: Is Screeding the Answer?
absolutely. Several houses in Melbourne have had their floors unevenly settled over time, particularly older houses in the outer suburbs, e.g. Carlton or Fitzroy. The difference in a room of several centimeters can also be removed through screening.
However, when your floor is sloping due to structural imperfection of rotten stumps or sinking piers in reactive soil, then that is the first thing you would do. Screening is only superficial and will not purify any structural flaws.
What Is the Price of Floor Screeding in Melbourne?
Screeding the floor is frequently charged in $35-70/ sq. m. depending on:
Screed type: Traditional (between $35 and 45/m 2) vs. specialized products (between $55 and 70/m 2).
Size of area: The bigger the area, the more in favour of economies of scale.
Complexity of access: Apartments that are located on the fifth floor are more expensive than ground floor houses.
Thickness needed: The thicker it is, the more expensive it is.
Timeline: Ratings: Fast-drying options are high priced.
Mean bath 8 to10 square meters in Melbourne will cost you between $400 to 700. A whole apartment of 100 square meters can be priced between $4000 to $6500.
Reasons why Melbourne Screening Services was selected
Find contractors familiar with Melbourne experience in dealing with reactive soils and climate. Ensure that they possess adequate laser levels and mixing equipment, effective communication on schedules, and necessary insurance and licensing.
Do not hurry the drying process- one of the most frequent procedures which cause flooring failure is laying flooring over screed which is not dry enough.
The Bottom Line
Professional screeding is priceless to the Melbourne property owners. Although this increases the cost and duration of renovations, the other option, which is damaging tiles, uneven floors, and early breakdown of the flooring, is even more expensive.
Call 0414 060 534 for a free phone consultation with our licensed & Professional Floor Screeding team.
Quality screening offers the basis of beautiful and lasting floors which will last you decades. This detail in the competitive property market of Melbourne is a value addition. To renovate one of your bathrooms or to renovate your whole house, investing in the services of professional floor screeding preconditions your successful investment in the long term.
