Page 76 - CFJ_Feb26

ADVICE & INFORMATION

Andy Vincent

Screeds in the UK – the future has begun!

Liquid screeds are transforming UK construction, driven by efficiency gains,
labour shortages, and modern building demands, says Andy

OST observers would have noticed they have come to be believed due to growth. Perhaps the cement materials
Ma big increase in the use of liquid the fact that in the UK we don’t treat have ‘stirred things up,’ but it seems
applied flowing screeds in the UK over screeds well and we certainly do not apparent that market conditions have
the past five years or so. The reasons manage the process of drying or the also been a factor.
for this may seem obvious, but it is correct ‘aftercare’ of the screed. This The construction industry is seeing
perhaps less easy to understand why can have consequences with all screeds, a labour and skills shortage in general,
this hasn’t happened before. but it is more important with gypsum but this is very apparent for screed
The first real use of liquid screeds based ones as the effects can be much installers. Plainly, a labour shortage can
began in the UK in the very early ‘90s more severe. be offset by using installation methods
when anhydrite (gypsum) based liquid that are quicker by ten times or more,
screeds became available. At that time, as liquid screeds are.
there was an expectation that they The speed is also of benefit to the
would see rapid growth and that the project itself, as is the ability to pump
UK would move substantially to liquid materials to height relatively easily.
instead of the traditional sand and London has been the earliest and
cement based, hand-applied materials quickest adopter of liquid screeds, and
that were used before. it’s not difficult to see why with its
The reasons for the expectation of prevalence of large and high buildings.
rapid adoption of liquid screeds were Underfloor heating has seen a rapid
obvious. The substantial increase in increase in use in the UK in recent years,
labour efficiency and speed that they driven by the need for energy efficiency
offered should have been enough. and the regulation changes that support
Better performance at thinner sections, this. The benefits to underfloor heating
greater stability and resistance to of using a liquid screed are manifold.
cracking, relative ease of installing to In short, the same list of benefits that
high buildings, improved performance we saw for liquid screeds in the early
of underfloor heating (though this was 90s seem now to have been recognised
relatively unused at the time), much and are being realised. Every indication
better health and safety for operatives is that the rapid growth of the last five
- the list was extensive, but the rate ‘Liquid screeds deliver years will continue for the next three at
of growth in the use of liquid screeds least, such that we will see the overall
was not quite what might have been speed, performance, share of liquid screeds over 75%.
expected. Liquid screeds are certainly here to
The growth in the use of liquid screeds and a decisive shift stay. We can expect that there will be
has been consistent but steady until in UK construction’ more brands arriving over the next
five or six years ago, reaching about year or so and more companies will
15% market share. This is at least in part become involved in the manufacture
due to the fact that anhydrite screeds, and installation. No doubt there’ll be
despite their obvious benefits, were not The past five or six years, however, even higher performance materials
initially universally well received. have seen the growth that we had developed, and we might see even more
Those who have been resistant to expected to happen much earlier. Today, efficient installation methods.
anhydrite screeds would offer two liquid screeds are widely reported to One thing we’re not likely to see is
reasons for this. Firstly, they would account for comfortably more than 40% anybody who’ll be sorry to see the back
say that anhydrite screeds take a very of the market. of the old, slow, and labour-intensive
long time to dry, and secondly, they The arrival in the UK of liquid screeds screed installation methods that are
would say they’re difficult to stick floor based on cement rather than gypsum already beginning to look a bit archaic. 
finishes to. Neither of these things are has certainly been a factor in market www.flowingscreedsassociation.com
strictly true. development, but despite the rapid Andy Vincent is sales & technical
They are not properties of the increase in the use of these materials, specifications at Cemfloor and a board
screeds, and certainly not faults, but the gypsum products have also seen member of Flowing Screeds Association

76 CFJ February 2026 www.contractflooringjournal.co.uk
@CFJMagazine