Why is speed important when laying floor screed?

The process of laying floor screed, and the amount of time it takes to dry, holds up the rest of the construction project. Other trades can’t work in rooms where floor screed is being installed or until it is dry enough to withstand footfall. They’re also unable to lay a top floor until the screed is cured.



These delays present problems to architects and main contractors such as juggling a workforce of many different trades, meeting client expectations in terms of schedule, and the financial pressure of a project that has to grind to a halt.

Clockwork Screed’s liquid floor screed

Clockwork Screed’s cementitious liquid screed is a high performance liquid floor screed that is poured onto the floor and self-compacts to provide a smooth, level surface. It is strong enough to be laid as thinly as 25mm which saves on cost and time.

When laid on underfloor heating systems, our liquid screed leaves no voids around the pipework. It can be laid very thinly, to around 50mm, which enhances the performance of the heating system, allowing it to evenly distribute heat throughout a room.

How is Clockwork Screed liquid floor screed a quicker application than traditional screed?

Clockwork Screed’s specialist mobile trucks



Clockwork Screed designed innovative mobile trucks that batch-produce the liquid screed on site and pump it in high volumes directly onto the floor surface where it is required. Around 1000m² of floor can be covered in one day. On average, a job is completed within 4-5 hours.

By comparison, traditional floor screed is brought to site in a truck mixer for another contractor to pump, level and finish the screed, or the screed is wheelbarrowed to the room and manually applied. The job can take up to a week to be completed.

Drying times of liquid floor screed

Clockwork Screed liquid floor screed takes as little as 24-48 hours for the fast drying options to be ready to be walked upon, allowing other trades to carry on with their work. It will only take around 14-21 days for the screed to be ready for a top floor to be applied. This is partly because floor finishes can be applied to the Clockwork Screed liquid floor screed with moisture levels at 2.5%CM, compared to traditional screeds that need to be below 0.5%CM.

Drying times for traditional sand and cement screeds are much longer. They need a day for every millimetre of screed thickness to cure, with additional time for thicker applications, ready for a final floor to be applied.

Outdoor applications of liquid floor screed

Unlike calcium sulphate screeds or anhydrite screeds, cementitious liquid floor screeds can be used in both indoor and outdoor areas of a building that are exposed to wet conditions. This removes the need for a separate application of floor screed from a different team, and all the logistic and cost implications associated with that process.

Laitance of calcium sulphate screeds

Calcium sulphate screeds become dusty when laid, known as surface laitance, which needs to be removed by sanding or vacuuming around 10 days after application, and before a top floor can be laid.

Cementitious liquid floor screeds don’t create surface laitance after curing.

Choose Clockwork Screed for your next floor screed project

Contact the team at Clockwork Screed for more information on the benefits of our products and services to specifiers.