Beware the Forums – The Right Screed Advice Can Transform your Project

September 2015
The forum post says we cant get a flat screed. Really? How flat is this?

The forum post says we can’t get a flat screed. Really? How flat is this?

Many people, including design and construction professionals, rely on forums to get answers to their questions. But the big question is: Can you really trust the information you receive on a forum page? Read on to find out…

Construction forums contain large amounts of information on a wide variety of screeding topics. However, getting accurate, valid, and useful information is very difficult. Therefore, evaluating the details you find on forums is critical to make the best decision for your project. Here is an example of something we found on a forum.

Screeding a floor is not as exact as you think.

You can be as precise as you like when ruling off but all will depend upon how you compress the muck with the polyfloat and finishing floor trowel.

Using a laser as a guide is good practice but you will not end up with a floor as flat as a mill pond. There will be dips and hollows

The Problem

Here is one of the questions we get asked quite often: “My builder laid a self-levelling screed formulation to correct levelness issues in the sub-floor. But he installed the screed too thick, and now the substrate is thicker than it should be. Do I need to start again?”

One of the reasons why many screeding projects fail is that some builders decide to install screeds themselves instead of hiring a proficient screeding contractor. When a problem occurs, they prefer to visit forums, look for a similar issue, and follow the corrective actions indicated over there to fix it. Even worse, they do not take the time to judge the accuracy of the information and establish whether or not it comes from a trustworthy source. As a result, a small issue escalates into a huge problem, requiring the builder to spend a lot more time, resources, and money than anticipated.

Finding Qualified Advice

It is true that some of the advice and tips on forums are given by qualified professionals. However, a builder must ensure that the information comes from a reliable, reputable specialist with extensive knowledge and experience in screeding. An engineer, for instance, may have a CEng degree, but this does not mean that he knows anything about screeding. Besides checking credentials, the builder should also look for unbiased reviews and try to contact the professional for additional information. Unfortunately, all these will take a lot of time – time that a builder might not have.

quality screed finish

Use a professional for a quality finish – you will get what you pay for.

The best thing a builder can do is to approach a reputable screeding company instead of wasting his valuable time trying to figure out whether or not he can trust the information posted on forums. By simply hiring a reliable, experienced screeding contractor, a builder can rest assured knowing that the screeding job is well taken care of, from project inception to completion.

To get the latest, accurate information on screeding or to discuss a specific screeding project, we invite you to contact us at BuilderScreed. We are a team of experienced professionals, who continue to complete and deliver screeding projects to the best of their abilities.