Preparation & demolition
Removing Old Screed Before a New Pour
Sometimes the honest answer to a failed floor is that the old screed has to come out completely before anything new goes in.
Get an honest assessment of your existing screed
Name, phone, email — we'll reply the same working day with a fixed price.
Not every problem floor is fixed by pouring over the top. Where the existing screed is extensively debonded, contaminated, or simply too thick or too thin to build a new floor up from, full removal is the more honest recommendation, even though it's more disruptive.
We'd rather tell a client that up front than pour a new screed onto a base that's going to undermine it in twelve months. This page sets out how we decide, and what removal actually involves once we've made that call.
It's also relevant on renovation and change-of-use projects where an existing screed simply doesn't match the new floor build-up — different depth, different heating design, or a DPM that needs replacing underneath it.
Signs that point toward full removal rather than overlay
- Widespread hollow-sounding areas covering more than a small percentage of the floor
- Screed contaminated with oil, adhesive residue or a failed damp-proof membrane beneath it
- Existing depth leaves no room for a new insulation and UFH build-up without raising doors and skirtings excessively
- Extensive cracking that suggests substrate movement rather than a surface-level fault
- A change of use or heating design that needs a different screed chemistry entirely
Overlay vs full removal
An overlay or patch repair can work when…
- Failure is localised and clearly bounded
- The substrate underneath is sound
- Depth allows a bonded topping without raising levels too far
- No contamination or DPM failure below
Full removal is the right call when…
- Failure is widespread or spreading
- Existing depth conflicts with the new design
- Substrate or DPM below is compromised
- Screed chemistry needs to change (e.g. gypsum to cement)
How a removal and re-pour project runs
- 1
Survey and sounding
We map the extent of failure across the floor to confirm removal is genuinely necessary.
- 2
Breakout
The old screed is broken out mechanically, working carefully around services, doorframes and skirtings.
- 3
Substrate inspection
The exposed slab, DPM and insulation are checked and repaired or replaced as needed.
- 4
Waste removal
Arisings are cleared from site — this is factored into the programme and quote.
- 5
New pour
The floor build-up goes in fresh, to the correct depth and specification for the new use.
Get an honest assessment of your existing screed
We'll sound the floor, tell you plainly whether removal is needed, and quote either route clearly.
What a removal adds to the programme
typically 1–3 days depending on area
Breakout
arranged and quoted with the job
Waste disposal
assessed once exposed
Substrate repair
runs as a standard liquid screed job
New pour
Removing Old Screed — questions we get asked
Keep reading across the site
Get an honest assessment of your existing screed
We'll sound the floor, tell you plainly whether removal is needed, and quote either route clearly.