How long does the screed take to dry

Hi,

I have recently replaced the old concrete floor at the house, in particular in the kitchen, hallway, understairs and front porch. I have dug it up enough to put harcore (100mm), sand (25mm), celotex insulation slabs (75mm), concrete (100mm) and screed (50mm). The actual thickness may not exactly match these measures but it is fairly close. There was almost 2 days between applying concrete and screed.

Not sure if it helps as the CH is not really used at present but the kitchen is only a small room measuring apoprox 1.78m x 2.70m. Central heating pipes (4 pipes) run through the kitchen above concrete through the screed and cover a lot of space in the kitchen.

I am trying to understand how long it takes for concrete and screed to dry. Screed has had additional fibre added for strength. I wish to fit laminate flooring in the hallway and tiles in the kitchen hence need to understand how soon I can do this. I have been told that it may take 6-8 weeks for concrete and screed to fully dry out with a possibility to tile the kitchen after 4 weeks but not applying grout for another 4 weeks.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

screed is 1mm per day I believe.

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I am assuming that teh mix was right. I have ordered it from a concrete merchant. It was laid down by someone with experience, not me .

I didnot allow anyone to walk on it from Thursday midday when it was laid down until Sunday with only limited access to it on this day. Monday onwards we have had some traffic on it.

I would now like to lay down some flooring, prerefably laminate in the hallway and tiles in the kitchen, but i am being told i shouldnt do so for a while. The house move was a stressfull experience but having to stare at the screed for another few weeks is not something i am looking forward. However, if the community says that i need to i guess i will have to hence the question.

The old rule-of-thumb we were taught was 1" per month, which pretty well ties in with what limerock said.

If you cover it with any impervious finish before it has properly dried out, any remaining moisture will find its way up into the walls, or will pool under the finish leaving you with a horrible smell (the floor, not you personally).

Thank you all for replying.

the reason i have redone the solid floor is to get rid of the moisture/damp that it had before we bought the house. I guess i need to stick to the rules and leave it to dry out as otherwise I wont have done much good.

Sorry, did not read your question correctly.
For laying tiles or laminates, Limerock is about right for a 50mm screed but for 75mm thick allow 1.5 days per mm
Regards oldun

theoldun said:

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...........the mind boggles!..........