Why one number misleads
Liquid Screed Cost per Square Metre: A Reality Check
If a website gives you one confident number for cost per square metre, treat it as a starting point for questions, not an answer.
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Or call our landline on 01392 237700
Search for liquid screed cost per square metre and you'll find plenty of confident-sounding single figures. The uncomfortable truth is that almost none of them mean much on their own, because a per-m² rate is a compressed summary of several genuinely variable costs, and quoting it as one number hides which of those costs applies to your job.
We're not going to add another fixed figure to that pile. Instead, this page sets out exactly what a per-m² rate is built from, why the same screed product can price very differently on two jobs, and why every quote we give follows a survey rather than a postcode and a guess.
If you want the mechanics of how the rate itself gets calculated line by line, our cost per m² explained page covers that in more depth. This page is specifically about why treating that rate as a fixed, comparable figure across jobs is the mistake.
What's genuinely folded into a per-m² figure
- Screed product and mix design, which varies between Cemfloor, standard anhydrite and enhanced thermal-conductivity products
- Depth of the pour, since material is bought by volume and a deeper floor costs more per m² even at the same product cost
- Site access and hose run length, which change crew time independently of the screed itself
- Job size, since mobilisation is a largely fixed cost spread thinly on a big pour and heavily on a small one
- Underfloor heating presence, which adds pipework checks and careful edge detailing
- Subfloor condition and preparation, since a level, correctly insulated base pours differently to one needing remedial work first
Why the same headline rate can mean two different totals
Imagine two jobs both quoted at what looks like the same per-m² rate. One is a 100m² new-build slab at 65mm depth with clear access and no UFH; the other is a 25m² extension at 75mm depth with a long, awkward hose run and underfloor heating pipework to work around. Even at an identical headline rate, the total cost per m² that actually lands on the second job's invoice, once mobilisation and access are accounted for properly, is very likely to be meaningfully higher.
This is exactly why a single number published on a website, ours or anyone else's, can never responsibly claim to be your price. It can only ever be an illustrative range, and any legitimate installer should say so clearly rather than implying certainty.
Get a proper range for your job
Send us your floor area, target depth and postcode and we'll give you an honest indicative range, always subject to a survey and written quote.
Or call our landline on 01392 237700
What tends to push a per-m² figure up or down
| Direction | Typical drivers |
|---|---|
| Pushes the figure up | Small job size, difficult access, greater depth, UFH pipework, poor subfloor prep |
| Keeps the figure efficient | Larger single-visit pours, clear confirmed access, standard depth, prep already completed correctly |
We'll always give you a range and explain what moves it, but we won't give you a single number before we've seen the site, and we'd be sceptical of anyone who does.
— Exeter Liquid Screeders
Cost per m² Reality Check — questions we get asked
Keep reading across the site
Get a proper range for your job
Send us your floor area, target depth and postcode and we'll give you an honest indicative range, always subject to a survey and written quote.