One of the biggest frustrations for flooring and screeding contractors today is the length of time that a traditional sand and cement screed takes to cure.
The water content of a 75mm floating screed naturally has to be allowed to evaporate sufficiently before even light foot traffic is acceptable. This means that follow-on trades often have to wait weeks before floors are fully dry.
Continuing our commitment to new product development, TEKFLOOR has recently launched a new addition to our additives arsenal. And it’s set to revolutionise the floor screeding market.
DURASCREED Screed Hardening Additive
TEKCEM DURASCREED is a technologically advanced screed hardening additive. When used in conjunction with proprietary screed mixtures, thinner screed thicknesses can be achieved without compromising compressive strength.
TEKCEM DURASCREED allows screeding operatives to lay a traditional floating sand & cement screed from 35mm thick, or an un-bonded sand & cement screed from just 20mm thick.
In both instances, the finished surface becomes a highly stressed, wearing screed that meets BS 8204 standard. It is perfect for hard granular surfacing as well as underfloor heating. Strengths of up to 60N/mm² can also be achieved, meaning there is no compromise on impact resistance or compressive performance when compared to its 75mm counterpart.
TEKFLOOR’s Commercial Director, Steve Foster said, “This is a very exciting development for the technical team here at TEKFLOOR. The industry has been crying out for a solution like this for years and it now begs a fundamental question. Why would anyone choose to lay a floating screed at 75mm thick, if they could lay it at 35mm and still achieve a 7N/mm² flexural strength and >2.0knm² working load?”
The screed hardening additive couldn’t be simpler to use since it is supplied in 1.3ltr containers. This allows for precision dosage to 2.5 bags of cement – meaning no measuring of liquid is required!
Combatting the PIR shortage
Steve went on to say “Although the construction industry is experiencing a national PIR shortage at the moment, on flooring projects where the specifier is in agreement, our customers are able to use our TEKCEM DURASCREED screed hardening additive in conjunction with our TEKWARM GPS150 insulation boards. Using a thicker insulation board with a thinner screed means that operatives can often achieve a comparable system thickness to a PIR with 75mm screed. Room heights are not overly compromised. U-values can be matched – if not improved upon. Best of all, costs are highly competitive.”
“It’s a win-win for the industry,” Steve said. “For the main contractor, there are often cost savings to be had since less sand and cement is required due to the reduction in screed thickness. There are more opportunities to move the insulation away from conventional PIR giving more flexibility. Plus the floor dries out twice as fast due to the reduced thickness.
“For the screeding contractor and follow-on trades, they obviously benefit from a more widely available insulation material, and faster laying times of a thinner screed layer.”
For further information on this exciting new product, contact the TEKFLOOR team today.