Commercial Project Types
Liquid Screed for Restaurant and Café Floors
A level, robust screed base for restaurant and café fit-outs, tailored to the different demands of front-of-house floors and commercial kitchen areas.
Restaurant and café floors have two quite different jobs to do within the same building: the front-of-house area needs a flat, attractive base for tile, timber-effect or resin finishes, while the kitchen and wash-up areas need a robust substrate that can take falls to drainage and stand up to constant washing down.
Liquid screed can serve both, laid level in dining areas and, where required, formed to falls approaching kitchen gullies so that water runs where it should rather than pooling on the floor. Getting this zoning right at the design stage avoids a mismatch between what front-of-house needs and what a commercial kitchen has to have to pass environmental health inspection.
Hospitality fit-outs also tend to run on compressed programmes ahead of an opening date, so we work closely with the shop-fitter or main contractor to fit the pour and drying period into a schedule that also includes catering equipment installation, extraction and services. Procurement is usually through a fit-out contractor rather than the operator directly, so specification and drainage details are typically confirmed through that route.
Fitting out a restaurant or café?
Tell us about your opening date and kitchen layout and we will plan the screed around it.
Or call our landline on 01392 237700
Different demands, front-of-house and back-of-house
We treat the dining area and the kitchen as related but distinct zones. Front-of-house typically wants a flat floor for an attractive finish, while the kitchen needs correct falls to drainage and a screed specification that will cope with sustained washdown once trading begins.
Getting the junction between these two zones right matters too, since floor levels, falls and finishes usually change at the pass or kitchen doorway, and this transition needs to be set out accurately before the pour rather than adjusted afterwards.
Working to an opening date
Hospitality clients almost always have a fixed opening date driving the programme. We agree pour timing early so the drying period is accounted for alongside catering equipment delivery, extraction commissioning and final fit-out trades.
Because kitchen equipment is often heavy and delivered late in the programme, confirming that the floor can safely take that loading, and has dried sufficiently for any flooring finish above, avoids a clash between the equipment delivery date and the floor's readiness.
Falls, drainage and environmental health requirements
Commercial kitchens are typically required to direct washdown water to floor gullies, and the screed forming those falls needs to be set out accurately from the drainage layout agreed with the kitchen designer or a food hygiene consultant. Getting the fall gradient wrong, even slightly, can leave standing water that fails an environmental health inspection.
We coordinate this fall detail before the pour, working from drawn levels rather than adjusting on-site, since retrofitting a fall into an already-flat kitchen floor is far more disruptive than planning for it from the outset.
Fitting into a wider hospitality programme
The screed pour is one part of a fit-out that also includes extraction ductwork, gas and electrical services to catering equipment, and often specialist flooring in both dining and kitchen areas. We liaise with the main contractor to make sure our pour date and drying allowance are realistic against everything else that has to happen before opening day.
Where a restaurant or café is a conversion of an existing unit, we also assess the condition of the existing slab and any legacy falls or drainage before confirming whether an overlay or full rebuild of the floor is the right approach.
Restaurant & Café Floor Screed — the points that decide it
- Level base suited to tile, resin and timber-effect front-of-house finishes
- Can be laid to falls approaching kitchen drainage where specified
- Robust build-up to suit commercial kitchen loading and washdown
- Fits around compressed hospitality fit-out and opening-date programmes
- Suits both new-build units and conversions of existing premises
- Coordinated with catering equipment and extraction installation timing
- Zoned specification distinguishes front-of-house and kitchen requirements
- Programme confirmed through the fit-out contractor's procurement route
- Drainage falls agreed against the kitchen designer's gully layout
Restaurant & Café Floor Screed — your questions
In short
A level, robust screed base for restaurant and café fit-outs, tailored to the different demands of front-of-house floors and commercial kitchen areas.
Fitting out a restaurant or café?
Tell us about your opening date and kitchen layout and we will plan the screed around it.