Which Underfloor Heating Screed Mix?

I’m Andy Parkin Managing Director of the Multi Award Winning Speed Screed. I’m here today to talk about which UFH screed mix you need.

When we talk about which UFH screed mix (underfloor heating), a few factors may influence your choice.

Here we set out to explore those options and recommend the most suitable products on the market.

Thermal Conductivity

As we are dealing with an UFH screed mix, thermal conductivity is an extremely important factor to consider.

The definition of thermal conductivity is:
“the rate at which heat passes through a specified material, expressed as the amount of heat that flows per unit time through a unit area with a temperature gradient of one degree per unit distance”

Flowing screeds have a higher density, and therefore lend themselves to greater thermal conductivity.

You may wish to consider the following products to achieve the maximum efficiency.
• Gypsol HTC
• Gyvlon Thermio+
• Topflow Screed C Belitex
The benefits include:
• High thermal conductivity
• High thermal diffusivity for fast heating
• Thinner screed

Fast Drying

One major consideration when choosing which UFH screed mix, is how quickly does it dry so I can lay my floor coverings?

Here we have a number of fast dry options suitable for underfloor heating use:
• Liquid Screed (fast drying cementitious Belitex) – 14-21 days
• Hydraulic Binder Fast Drying Screeds – 1 day for ceramics, 5 days for resilient
• Mapescreed 704 – 7 days for ceramics, 14 days for resilient
• Retanol Xtreme – 2 days for ceramics, 3 days for resilient

Foot Trafficking

How soon can you walk on the UFH screed mix? If your program is tight this might be an important consideration.

Below is a selection of screeds that allow for early foot traffic:
• Keracem Eco – 8 hrs
• Topcem – 12 hrs
• Retanol Xtreme – 24 hrs
• Calcium Sulphate Screed – 24-48 hrs

If early loading of the screed is required (most screeds achieve their design strength at 28 days), products like Retanol Xtreme have amazing early strength.

Screed Minimum Thickness
If available screed depth is an issue, then a thin one might be the best option.

Here we have a selection:
• Gypsol HTC – 20mm coverage of the pipes
• Gyvlon Thermio+ – 20mm coverage of the pipes
• Topflow Screed C Belitex – 30mm coverage of the pipes
• Retanol Xtreme – 30mm coverage of the pipes

I hope this has been a help when choosing the right UFH screed mix, if you have any questions please get in touch.