Why Use Ready Mix Floor Screed?

I’m Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi Award Winning  Speed Screed.  I am here today to talk about Ready Mix Floor Screed.

Exactly what is Ready Mix Floor Screed?

In this example we are assuming ready mix floor screed is a Semi Dry Screed.

The screed is batched and mixed in the factory and delivered directly to site in a tipper lorry.

Who supplies?

Companies with national coverage who can supply are:

Tarmac

The product range consists of:

• Truscreed
• Tufscreed F
• Truscreed 5
• SBR Polymer Screed

Cemex

The product range consists of:

• Readyscreed Original
• Readyscreed Early Strength
• Readyscreed Reinforced

Aggregate Industries

The product range consists of:

• Screed S
• F Screed
• ES Screed
• EF Screed
• SBR Screed

It can also be supplied from a wide range of independent suppliers throughout the UK.

Why buy ready mix floor screed over site batched screed?

There are several pros and cons, and so let us investigate a little.

PROS

Testing of the screed on a regular basis. Depending upon the combination of cement and fine aggregates, the performance of the screed can vary.

Regular testing means that any dips in strength can be adjusted, and taken into consideration with mix design.  Materials all conform to high standards, and grading should always be ideal to enable good finishing of the screed.

It is delivered directly into site via tipper trucks, thus making the ordering very easy. Large quantities can be supplied with ease.

CONS

High prices are normally associated with ready mix Floor Screed, when compared to site batched screed.

Waste is an issue with ready mix Floor Screed, with high amounts of unused screed often being left.

The screed is called off before the work starts, and depending on the standard of the take off there could be more or less screed delivered than required.  Site batched screed offers flexibility of working, starting and stopping when the project requires.  With ready mix floor screed it is on site and needs to be dealt with.

Make up deliveries, if short on screed it could be difficult to obtain further deliveries to complete the project on the same day. When stop ending the screed, and leaving a “day joint” it would need to be in a suitable place i.e. doorways, columns, or pre-determined joint across a floor.  This could mean having to leave material, rather than continue screeding and placing a joint in an unsuitable place.

Once the ready mix floor screed has been batched it only has an open life of around 8 hours (a retarder is used to prevent the screed from setting). After that time the screed will “go off” which means that if there is any issues on site that stops the laying of the screed, there is then an issue with screed which will need removing.

Ready mix screed certainly has it’s place in the market, you will have to weigh up the pros and cons to decide if it is for you. Contact us for more information. We love to help!