Should I use Concrete in My Bathroom?

Concrete and liquid screed actually works very well in bathrooms just like ceramic tiles. As well as being minimal, easy to clean and smooth (when applied correctly), it won’t be damaged by water. However, it does also come with its own drawbacks, such as the coldness of the surface and its slippery nature.

Major Advantages in Bathrooms

Resistace to Water Damage

Water can’t damage a concrete floor. This means you never have to worry about wet feet, damp towels, shower spray, or spills from the sink or tub. Having said this, make sure your concrete floor does not develop cracks which could let water pass through to the sub floor structure.

To Read more: Laser screed Devon

Design Ideas For Modern Concrete Floors

The obvious benefits of a concrete floor is that it gives a home or business setting an immediate clean, minimal and sleek industrial look. Complementing almost every kind of décor scheme, the subtle or glossy grey tones can be introduced to provide the perfect backdrop to your new home. 

Major Style Considerations

Standard concrete is still concrete. We’re not talking about the kind of flooring or construction material that you’ll find on any building site or as part of your sub structural floor. When we talk about modern concrete floors, we’re usually referring to a range of different floor styles that have emerged from new technologies and processes changing the finishes and style of concrete floor surfaces.

Liquid floor screed developments and concrete polishing equipment can now be used to achieve excellent smoothness, finishing and shine with relative ease. Below are some major characteristics of modern concrete floors:

• Smooth, polished surfaces
• Completely level and unblemished across large surface areas
• High-gloss finishes that reflect overhead lighting
• Neutral colour schemes

If you pop into any suppliers of concrete floor or screeding in Northamptonshire, you should be able to gather some advice for how a concrete floor will work with your next home design project.

Interior Design Ideas

While you might be sold on the actual floor choice itself, it might be a little harder to choose exactly what to include inside your new home or office. Luckily, as the grey tones of concrete flooring are neutral, there is a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to what you can do with the interior fittings. Below are some top recommendations:

• Use of metallic coatings to add dimension and an enhanced industrial vibe
• Utilise large rugs and luxurious fabrics to add warmth and depth
• Don’t be afraid to use wood, especially large beams and exposed support work

Where to use it?

Concrete floors can be used throughout your whole home. However, kitchen floor designs are one of the best areas to use concrete floors due to a number characteristics that are inherent with this floor design choice.

Concrete’s many strengths include being durable, reducing allergens, being cost-effective, and easy to maintain – as well as luxurious when combined with specific epoxy and coatings.

  

Final tip

Concrete floors are ideal for modern homes and businesses because they can be given a clean industrial look, which is characterized by neutral colour schemes, angular shapes, and the use of modern materials.

If you’re looking for screeding in Northamptonshire or other locations in the UK, inquire what options are available when it comes to concrete floor design choices.   

Liquid Screed Is A Far Better Option Than Sand And Cement

At Liquid Screed we employ teams of screeders throughout the country, all of whom are experts at their jobs and take pride in producing a thoroughly level professional flat screed to which the final flooring is going to be attached.

When you need screeding in Buckinghamshire or any county for that matter, the best screed that you can get is liquid anhydrite screed. There are several advantages to using a liquid screed as opposed to a traditional sand and cement screed, not the least of which is the time taken to lay it. Because it is in liquid form, it is delivered to site ready mixed and poured using a pump. This means that our screeders can lay 100 square metres in as little as 45 minutes and up to 2,000 square metres in a day. Compare that with a traditional screed which has to be trowelled on by hand. We estimate that pouring a liquid screed is up to 20 times as fast as a sand and cement screed.

Read more : Screeding in Buckinghamshire

What Does it Take to Install a Liquid Screed Floor?

While liquid screed is a popular floor choice in both commercial and residential projects, many people are unsure about what it takes to install a new liquid screed floor. 

This is largely because it is a relatively new flooring option, but also because some are confused about the difference between liquid screed and standard concrete as a material. To clear up some of this confusion, we’ve outlined the basic steps to installing a liquid screed floor so that you can better understand what it takes to install a liquid screed floor.

Preparing the floor

When installing liquid screed, it’s essential to first use the right preparation methods so that the final structure and finishing are optimal.

To apply the liquid screed mixture, you’ll first need to address the sub-floor by ensuring it has structural integrity and is covered in a sufficient casing / membrane (often with polythene sheets). This will go over any insulation and accommodate the presence of underfloor heating systems, for example. You will also need to make sure that any plumbing work is sufficiently covered and completely watertight.

To Read more: Sanding Worcestershire

The Many Benefits Of Using Liquid Screed In Essex

At Liquid Screed we can provide you with a liquid floor screed anywhere in England and Wales, including Essex. In fact, we have carried out many projects of floor screeding in Essex, from Brentwood to Harwich and from Saffron Walden to Canvey Island.

Liquid Screed has so many advantages over traditional sand and cement screed that it is hard to know where to begin. Instead of being hand laid with a trowel, it is poured into place using a pump and long hose. This takes far less time than laying a screed by hand: in fact, it is said to be up to 20 times faster.

It is true that the actual material cost is about half as much again as sand and cement, but the speed of laying means that the labour cost is far less. Furthermore, depending on whether underfloor heating is being installed or not, a liquid screed can be laid with a thickness of as little as 15mm whereas a typical sand and cement screed is about 80mm thick, and may be more. Even if underfloor heating is being installed, the thickness of the liquid screed will only need to be 40mm at most. Taking everything into account, the overall cost of a liquid screed and sand and cement are about the same.

To Read more: Floor screeding Essex

The Benefits of Liquid Screed Floors

Concrete floors used to be restricted to purely industrial settings until it became a stylish utilitarian and minimal surface option. Today, with new technologies and innovations in liquid screed, people now look to ‘concrete’ as a stylish and sophisticated floor option that works with many luxury and comfortable home designs.

Durability

While liquid screed is not exactly concrete, it is made from similar ingredients and offers the same properties of durability and strength. When applied correctly, liquid screed is extremely tough and resilient and is able to withstand the pressure from very heavy objects and equipment.

While marble or granite may crack or chip when dropping heavy items on them, liquid screed is able to absorb most collisions without much consequence.

Requires less upkeep

Due to its high durability and strength qualities, you don’t have to worry about constant chips or scratches like you would with other floor options like natural hardwood. Depending on your chosen finish and the level of traffic you expect in your home, you will still need to clean and wax your floor regularly. However, it is unlikely that serious damage will require you to ever replace it entirely.

Versatility

Liquid screed, with its sophisticated polished surfaces and consistent smoothness over large areas, offers a great deal of design freedom to the interior designer or homeowner. Far from the mundane or cold grey surfaces that we associate with outdoor concrete slabs and flooring, liquid screed offers endless variety in its colour and texture, making it an incredibly versatile material.

Contractors that offer liquid screed and floor preparation in Bedfordshire, Kettering or Northampton will be able to advise you on various finishes to match your home design requirements.

 

Great with underfloor heating systems

Contributing to the rise in popularity of liquid screed has been the demand for underfloor heating systems and flooring options that work dynamically to optimise the way heat is distributed throughout the home. As liquid screed is applied in extremely smooth and thin surfaces, it allows for great thermal conductivity and energy efficiency.

If you’re looking for floor preparation in Bedfordshire to match your new underfloor heating system, inquire with your contractor whether they can handle the installation of liquid screed in combination with your UFH system.

Underfloor Heating Has Several Benefits

OK. Let’s face it: installing underfloor heating in Oxford – or anywhere else for that matter – is not cheap. But then, neither is buying a Ferrari.

However, there is a big difference between installing underfloor heating and buying a Ferrari and that is that the Ferrari is going to be very expensive to run, whereas the underfloor heating isn’t. The Ferrari is going to need constant servicing by a Ferrari dealer, and it also probably only does about a maximum of 18 miles to the gallon. (Having said that, if you can afford a Ferrari you are probably not too worried about the fuel cost!).

However, the underfloor heating is going to SAVE you money for as long as the building lasts, because it costs a lot less to run than a radiator system. Here are the facts: a radiator system needs to be heated to around 65°C – 75°C in order to make the room comfortable. An underfloor heating system only needs to be heated to 29°C or a little less – depending on the type of flooring installed. Just how much money does that save? Furthermore, you are also helping the environment. Not only that, the savings on heating continue forever.

To Read more: Underfloor heating Oxfor

Improve Your Home’s Energy Efficiency

Building and designing a low-to-zero energy home that is also affordable is many people’s dream. However, there’s no denying that getting it right involves a number of crucial steps. We’ve outlined some useful strategies to employ when embarking on a home build or renovation that is both energy efficient and feasible.

Invest in the design process

Smart design can help you to reduce the overall energy wastage in your home with a number of cost-effective methods. There are many designers and architects who specialise in this area, so it might be worth going to them with your project to make use of their experience with energy efficiency and sustainable materials.

To Read more: Floor preparation Cornwall

Tips for Building an Eco-House

Today, reducing energy consumption is more than just a way to save money. It’s a way to contribute to the world’s overall state of affairs, where it’s now imperative that we all find ways to reduce our carbon foot print and move towards being more environmentally friendly cities and nations.

Think about the long-term  

Don’t let the details get away from you. Creating a more environmentally friendly home is about looking at all the processes and materials involved in the construction of your new home and mapping out the impact it will have on your future footprint. Careful planning will allow you to make the necessary decisions to achieve the kind of project that you want.

It's not just about choosing recycled or sustainable materials, it’s also about off-setting your construction choices with the low energy wastage of the home in the future. For example, you can justify using non-sustainable materials such as metals in the short term if this contributes to insulation and reduces the overall energy requirements of the house in the long-run.

Don’t get distracted by the stylish eco route

People sometimes get carried away by the idea of having huge solar panel installations or other features that we have come to associate with eco-living. However, check whether these installations are a sustainable method of providing energy or heat to your home.

An alternative route would be to install underfloor heating, which can have a huge impact on reducing energy wastage by spreading heat more efficiently through a home. You can contact various contractors who handle heating systems and suitable floor levelling in Chichester or wherever you are based, to see how this could be used in your home.

Consider your interior as well

Not considering your interior in your new eco-home is an easy mistake to make, especially because we tend to change and upgrade the insides of our homes more frequently, which can have an impact on the home’s overall carbon footprint. It is much better to invest in more expensive and higher quality items that last a lifetime, than going to IKEA every year to give your home a makeover.  Again, opting for more sustainable floor choices that don’t need to be changed regularly is better than choosing initially more renewable materials that will need changing yearly. You can contact a supplier of liquid screed, underfloor heating systems and floor levelling in Chichester for more information about installing a flooring solution that will last for decades.