Levelling uneven floors
Floor Levelling with Self-Levelling Screed
When an old slab dips, rolls or steps between rooms, a self-levelling screed poured over it gives you one flat floor to lay tiles, timber or vinyl on.
Get an uneven floor levelled
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Floor levelling is about getting a flat, even surface before the finished flooring goes down. Tiles crack over a hump, LVT telegraphs every dip, and engineered boards rock where the floor falls away. The fix depends on how far out the floor is.
For corrections measured in tens of millimetres, a self-levelling screed is the right tool. Liquid screed is pumped in, finds its own level and sets as one continuous layer, so levelling a concrete floor across a whole ground floor is done in a single visit rather than room by room.
For very small corrections of a few millimetres, floor layers usually use a latex or self-levelling compound instead. This page explains where each one fits, so you know which to ask for.
Floor levelling screed vs floor levelling compound
Self-levelling screed
- Laid at screed depths — from 25mm (Gyvlon Screed bonded) or 30mm (Cemfloor bonded), 35–40mm unbonded
- Pumped over a whole floor in one pour
- Can be laid over insulation and underfloor heating pipes
- Suits large dips, steps between rooms and full ground-floor renovations
Latex or self-levelling compound
- A thin smoothing layer, usually a few millimetres
- Mixed in buckets and spread by hand or with a pin roller
- Used by floor layers just before vinyl, LVT or carpet
- Not designed to bridge deep dips or encase heating pipes
When a self-levelling screed is the right answer
If the floor is out by more than a compound can take, or you want to add insulation or underfloor heating while you are at it, a new screed over the old floor makes sense. On a sound slab the screed can be bonded; where the old floor is contaminated, damp-proofed or partly broken up, it is laid unbonded over a membrane at a slightly greater depth.
Liquid screed self-levels across the room and is finished to a flatness class agreed for the covering, so the floor layer starts from a true surface. Our renovation screed guide covers the older-house build-ups in more detail, and floor preparation explains what we check underneath first.
Levelling a concrete floor, step by step
- 1
Survey the floor
We check levels across the rooms, thresholds and door heights, and how sound the existing slab is.
- 2
Choose bonded or unbonded
Sound, clean slabs can be primed and bonded; others get a membrane and an unbonded screed.
- 3
Set the datum
Levels are set to the finished floor height you need, with edge strip around walls.
- 4
Pump and level
The screed is pumped in, dappled and left to settle to a flat surface in one visit.
- 5
Dry and hand over
Walk-on after 24–48 hours; moisture readings before coverings go down.
Signs your floor needs levelling before new flooring
- A straightedge rocks or shows gaps across the room
- Visible steps where rooms or an extension join
- Old tiles or quarry tiles lifted, leaving an uneven base
- A new covering such as large-format tile or LVT that needs a flat surface
Frequently asked
Get an uneven floor levelled
Send the floor area, roughly how far out it is and the flooring you plan. We reply the same working day.