All screed floor structures - Overview of cross-sections

Chappen met het Staenisrooster

Would you like to install your screed yourself? Then it is important to have a good foundation. Your screed must lie perfectly in order to place your floor finish correctly. There are different types of screed, such as cement-based screed and gypsum-based screed. The composition of the screed usually consists of sand, cement and water.

Nowadays you can easily lay screed yourself, even if you have no experience with the Staenis slat system. This system makes it easy to maintain the correct height of the screed and ensures that you do not have to worry about the end result.

Once the Staenis grid has been set correctly, you should not take the height into account when scraping the screed. As a result, the most difficult task disappears and you can fully focus on feeding, compacting and scraping the screed.

If the screed works are not fully completed within 1 day, you can always continue screeding at a later time, without any time pressure.

The risk of cracks, collapse, loosening, etc. of the floor is negated by dividing the floor structure into very small fields of 0.25 m². The grid ensures that you do not have to worry and that you will achieve a correct, high-quality end result.

For large surfaces, you can save on a decoupling mat (30 euros/m²) with the Staenis grid. View the technical advantages for this.

When using the Staenis grid, you no longer need to place expansion joints, except at the opening of a door. Edge insulation is still necessary around the screed. In addition, you must apply a waterproof foil before placing the screed.

Applications

Screed as a filler for small surfaces

Small spaces: You are always cheaper, in spaces smaller than 40m², by installing your screed yourself with the Staenis grid.

Screed as a filler with underfloor heating

Large spaces: The Staenis grid with screed protects your tiles. You almost no longer have to place expansion joints and an uncoupling mat is unnecessary.

Possible screed floor constructions

screed floor construction 1

screed floor construction 1

4.5 to 9 cm - concrete slab

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screed floor construction 2

screed floor construction 2 & 3

+9,5 cm - concrete slab - insulating screed - heat

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screed floor construction 3

screed floor construction 4 & 5

+7.5 cm - concrete slab - PUR insulation - heat

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Chape vloeropbouw 4

screed floor construction 6 & 7

+12.5 cm - concrete slab - PUR sheets - heat

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screed floor construction 5

screed floor construction 8

+7 cm - concrete slab - PUR sheets - heat

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screed floor construction 6

screed floor construction 9

+7,5 cm - dovetailed sheets - heat

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screed floor construction 10

screed floor construction 10

+20 cm - insulating concrete slab

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screed floor construction 11

screed floor construction 11

1cm-5 cm - concrete slab - adhesive screed

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Blogs (manuals)

Easy to lay your screed yourself, even without experience

Laying screed yourself is a lot easier with the Staenis grid. During damming and levelling, you can easily follow the height reference points (screed bars or screed guides) of the reinforcement grid, so that your screed will lie nicely flat. Once the Staenis grid has been set correctly, you do not have to take the height into account when pouring the screed. This way you can fully focus on laying, compacting and polishing the screed. The wheelbarrow structure divides the screed tensions, so that you always get a top-quality end result. And you also don't have to screed a large area in one go. If the screed work is not finished in one day, you can continue screeding whenever it suits you. Choose your floor structure from the list above and view a tailor-made manual for laying screed.

Laying the screed yourself with the Staenis grid = saving

By laying your screed yourself with the Staenis grid, you are guaranteed to obtain a professional result, and you can also make considerable savings. You save enormously, especially on small surfaces, because you will not be charged a fixed price by a screeder. With large surfaces you also save on a decoupling mat, a saving of 30 euros per m² on average. Furthermore, with the Staenis grid you do not need a steel reinforcement mesh to lay your screed. Also, when you work with the Staenis grid, there is automatically an expansion joint in your floor every half metre. This means that it is not necessary to place a real expansion joint in the screed and in the tiles.

Make your own screed: add water

Adding water to the sand-cement mixture is a crucial step to obtain a good screed. It is important not to add too much water at once, as this can lead to a wet and weak screed. Gradually add the water, while continuing to mix the mixture well. Make sure the mixture forms a good slurry that is neither too wet nor too dry.

Screed drying time

The drying time of screed depends on various factors such as the thickness of the screed, humidity and ambient temperature. In general, it takes about 1 week per centimeter of thickness before the screed is dry enough to install a floor finish. It is important to allow the screed to dry thoroughly before proceeding with the installation of tiles or other floor finishes. A screed that is too moist can lead to problems such as loosening of the tiles, mold formation, or other moisture problems.rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.staenis.com" allow

Screed and underfloor heating

When installing underfloor heating in combination with screed, there are some additional points for attention. Make sure that the underfloor heating elements are properly fixed and that they cannot move during the installation of the screed. It is also important to make the screed sufficiently thick on top of the underfloor heating, so that the heat is distributed well and the underfloor heating works efficiently.

Conclusion

Making and installing screed is an important part of the floor structure. By using the correct proportions of sand, cement and water, and taking into account the drying time and any underfloor heating, you can ensure that your screed forms a solid and even base for your floor finish. The Staenis slat system makes laying screed easier and more accessible, even for people with no experience.

Placement video

Laying screed yourself

Expansion gap and height difference

Frequently Asked Questions

A traditional screed (also called the floating screed) consists of a binding agent: cement (CEM 32.5), a filler: sand (grain size of 04/07) and water. It is the cement layer on which the floor finish (tiles, laminate, parquet, cast floor, etc.) will eventually come. Screeds therefore serve as a base for various floors. That is why the screed must be placed on a solid supporting floor, have a certain thickness or height and be flat.

A screed can also have another function, such as distribution of the floor loads on insulation layers, heating floor, etc. Because that screed supports your floor, you also understand why you should choose quality. And by that we mean in the first place a screed that is completely level and does not contain harmful (shrinkage) tensions, due to the Staenis grid.

If you are making screed for use with the Staenis lattice self-build system, use a mixing ratio of 5 parts coarse river sand (grain 0/4-0/7) to 1 part cement. After mixing, add water until you get an earth-moist mixture.

A damp screed weighs 100 kg per m² at 5 cm thickness, including compaction.

When buying 'dry' screed from a screed silo (consisting of 1 compartment dry cement and 1 compartment sand) you will notice that it weighs less because it has not yet been mixed with water. With a screed from a screed silo you only pay for the cement and sand, but not for the water added by you.

You have 4 options for this:

  1. You can buy bags of sand and cement yourself and mix them with water in a concrete mixer.
    • advantage: You can choose how much screed you create and is also the cheapest solution.
    • Disadvantage: This is an intensive work, therefore it is recommended to only use this for smaller areas.
  2. You buy ready-made bags of screed from a building trade or do-it-yourself store and mix them with water in a concrete mixer.
    • advantage: You can choose how much screed you make and you immediately have the right mixing ratio.
    • Disadvantage: This is an expensive solution for large quantities, so it is recommended to only use it for smaller areas.
  3. You can have screed delivered or pick up screed yourself at a concrete plant.
    • advantage: you can pick up larger quantities and you immediately have the right mixing ratio
    • Disadvantage: you will most likely have a surplus and once the screed has been delivered, it must be processed immediately, which can create time pressure.
  4. You have a screed silo delivered to your yard.
    • advantage: It is much more pleasant and 'lighter' to work than the previous options. With a screed silo you can determine yourself when you carry out the work and you have no surplus or time pressure because fresh screed is always made per wheelbarrow.
    • Disadvantage: For the delivery of a screed silo, your driveway must be large enough to place one. The truck that delivers the silo is 12 metres long, weighs 40 tons and places the silo (3 x 3 metres in area) just behind his truck on the ground.

A classic sand-cement screed has a weight of approximately 1,700 kg/m³. In a silo it weighs a dry 1,400 kg/m³³

Lighter fillers are insulating screed or leveling granules. Insulation screed weighs 10x lighter than normal screed and leveling granules 4x lighter.

On our website you can find all the information about these fillers, their weights and applications. With our calculator you can also easily calculate the total weight of the screed.

A screed without insulating filler has an 'insulation value' of between 1 and 1.3 W/mK. Which means that screed is more likely to transmit the cold or heat, rather than insulate.

As standard, a drying time of 28 days is recommended for a traditional screed. If drying time accelerators have been added to the screed, the drying time may be shorter depending on the type of additive.

Use an affordable alternative such as quick-drying tileable insulation screed if, for example, you only want 3 days of drying time. Of course you can also install a dry floor, so that you can immediately finish the floor with a floor finish of your choice.

After 2 to 3 days you can carefully walk on the screed. Of course everything depends on the drying possibilities. After 10 days you can just walk on the screed and you can even work on it.

For a classic sand-cement screed without underfloor heating, we recommend a minimum thickness of 5 cm.

For a classic sand-cement screed with underfloor heating or in a garage, we recommend a thickness of 8 cm.

We recommend only placing screed at temperatures between 5°C and 25°C, this ensures that the screed will not become silted or come loose. Also make sure that the screed feels fresh/cold when placed or that the ambient temperature does not fall below 5°C. Also, do not place screed at high temperatures in the summer. The drying of the screed will be accelerated, so that the cement will not have the opportunity to bond with the sand.

In extremely hot weather you can use the following tips:

We would like to point out that it is not recommended to place screed during the hottest moments (+25°C) of the day or to take the following measures.

Not only the air temperature is important. You also have to take into account the temperature of the substrate, the screed and the materials themselves. Proper functioning of the products is no longer guaranteed outside these temperatures.

Place the materials in a cool place as much as possible and shield the surface from the sun.

At temperatures above 25°C, screed can dry out faster than you expect. This leads to burning of the top layer.

Afterwards, cover the screed with a plastic film to prevent the surface from drying out too quickly.

The water in the screed evaporates, leaving insufficient moisture for a chemical reaction with the cement. As a result, the bonding of the cement is lost.

If necessary, moisten the surface slightly with a water spray and make the screed slightly more humid if necessary.

Message that always applies during the installation of screed: always wear protective clothing and make sure that screed (cement) never comes into direct contact with the skin. This can cause severe burns.

The waiting time to start the underfloor heating protocol with a traditional screed is 28 days. With the Staenis grid you can start the underfloor heating start-up protocol after 7 days. This saves you time in your construction planning.

After 28 days, the screed, reinforced with the Staenis grid, is always ready for tiling with any screed thickness. For parquet, a moisture measurement must be made by the parquet installer before starting installation.

If with underfloor heating, it is mandatory to always let the screed go through a warming cycle before starting tiling the floor.

It is no longer necessary to place expansion joints in your screed with the Staenis grid.

IMPORTANT:

  • An expansion joint must still be placed if the opening is smaller than 110 cm.
  • Surfaces without expansion joints may not exceed 200 m² (for surfaces larger than 200 m², please contact us).
  • Construction joints must always be adopted, as prescribed by the Buildwise.
  • Edge insulation (perimeter joints) must still be placed.

Yes, with the Staenis grid, edge insulation still has to be placed at the perimeter of the room.

Yes, this is no problem at all. You simply place the leg on the underfloor heating pipe and locally you adjust the leg less far. After screeding, the pressure will be distributed everywhere and makes no difference.

The following video shows how to place an expansion joint and height difference with the Staenis grid.

Yes, the Staenis grid divides the screed into areas of 0.5 x 0.5 m. This distributes the saucer-shaped effect and is expressed at least per square. In this way, the screed remains supported on the substrate and the tiles or floor finish do not experience any stress, making a decoupling mat superfluous, because the problem is solved at source in this way.

No, the Staenis grid replaces the reinforcement mesh.

No, it is not possible to pour liquid concrete into the Staenis grid.

The Staenis grid would start to float on top of the liquid concrete.

Usually the concrete slab is not 100% flat and there are also utility pipes on top. We recommend that you first place a filling screed, insulating screed or sand to level out the surface before laying the insulation boards. If this does not work, it is best to cut the insulation boards into smaller pieces so that they no longer float and support well on the ground, after which you can spray all the cracks with PU foam and then place a plastic layer above it.

Yes, but make sure that the screed is at least 7 cm thick. If this does not work, combine a standard reinforcement mesh with the Staenis grid.

Projects

Calculator and prices

Filter quantity calculator (estimate)

mm
2.16 m³
1
1
0
0
0
Amount of screed required (mix yourself)
(2700 kg sand + 540 kg cement)
3240 kg
Amount of screed required from prepared bags
(Add yourself: 270 l water)
135 bags of 16 l
Amount of screed needed in silo
(Add automatically: 250 l water)
4 tons
Amount of screed required from concrete plant
 
3510 kg

Cost calculation (optional)

Screed
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