Checking Screed Readiness Before New Timber Flooring

Make installation conditional on an accepted substrate

Before booking timber installation, agree who will establish that the screed is ready and what evidence that person will provide. A delivery date, a pale surface or several weeks of summer weather cannot replace acceptance against the selected flooring system. For an occupied Cyprus home, this decision also controls when furniture moves, which rooms remain accessible and whether another disruptive preparation visit will be necessary.

Ask the flooring contractor to distinguish three outcomes: ready for the specified installation, ready after defined preparation, or unsuitable pending further investigation. Each outcome should identify the affected rooms. This prevents a reassuring statement about the living room from being treated as permission to cover a recently patched corridor.

Use the existing guide to choosing a floor replacement contractor to assess the wider appointment. The narrower question here is what must be demonstrated before that contractor starts covering the substrate.

Identify the screed and the complete flooring system

Collect the screed product information, installation date and any available record of thickness, repairs or heating. Where these records are missing, ask the contractor how the material will be identified. Cementitious screed and calcium sulphate screed should not simply receive the same moisture criterion because both look like a grey floor.

Bona’s installation guidance illustrates the difference: for its described system without underfloor heating, it lists maximum moisture contents of 2.0 CM% for cementitious screed and 0.5 CM% for calcium sulphate screed. It lists lower values for heated versions. These are manufacturer-specific examples, not universal Cyprus acceptance limits. Bona preparation guidance.

The specification should name the timber product, installation method, adhesive or underlay, primer and any moisture-control layer. Ask the installer to resolve conflicting instructions before purchase. A favourable adhesive limit does not automatically override the timber manufacturer’s conditions or establish compatibility with an unidentified levelling compound.

Require a moisture result that can be interpreted

A useful moisture record states the method, units, test locations, date, relevant conditions and acceptance criterion. A bare statement of 'two per cent' leaves too much unanswered. Ask whether it is a calcium-carbide result, an instrument indication or another measurement, and which product instruction makes that result acceptable.

Different measurement systems should not be compared as though their percentages were interchangeable. Have the contractor explain how the chosen method addresses the actual screed and installation. The homeowner’s role is to obtain a readable result and decision, rather than select a test procedure from an online discussion.

Include repaired channels, thicker local areas and places affected by previous leaks in the discussion about testing coverage. Ask why the selected locations represent the work area. A test supports a conclusion about the conditions investigated; it does not establish that every concealed area is identical or that a future leak cannot occur.

Check strength and flatness separately from moisture

A dry screed can still be unsuitable for bonding timber. Bona’s preparation guidance requires a substrate that is even, clean, free of grease and cracks, and sufficiently strong in compression and tension. Treat those as separate questions in the handover rather than assuming one acceptable moisture result settles everything. Bona substrate requirements.

Ask the contractor to record the flatness requirement taken from the selected system and where corrective preparation is needed. Flatness concerns local variation; it does not necessarily mean making an entire older home perfectly level. Clarify which result is included before a levelling allowance expands into a different project.

Bona’s professional FAQ also states that adhesive is not designed to level uneven substrate. Therefore, a proposal to compensate for hollows with extra adhesive needs a specific supported explanation, rather than an informal promise. Dusting, weak areas and cracks should receive their own assessment and proposed treatment. Bona professional FAQ.

Understand what a moisture-control proposal changes

If the screed does not meet the proposed installation conditions, the practical options may include further drying, investigating an ongoing moisture source or specifying a compatible moisture-control system. Ask the contractor to explain which problem the proposed treatment addresses. Residual construction moisture and continuing water entry are different purchasing problems.

Do not approve a generic 'damp-proof coating' line without the product reference and layer sequence. Bona’s FAQ, for example, says levelling compound will not adhere directly to its R540 without the specified adhesion promoter. That is evidence that interfaces matter, not a recommendation to use that product on your floor. Bona compatibility guidance.

Require a revised description covering preparation, compatible materials, waiting periods and acceptance after treatment. Ask whether the change affects floor height, thresholds or the installation date. The contractor should explain the technical basis; the owner should approve the resulting scope, expense and disruption before the change proceeds.

Coordinate readiness with life in the occupied home

Agree when wet work, plumbing repairs and other activities affecting the substrate will finish. If another trade introduces water after testing, ask whether the acceptance remains valid. Record who can reopen the readiness decision rather than allowing an earlier test sheet to become an unconditional installation instruction.

Discuss the room conditions required by the timber and installation products, including how the home will actually be used after completion. A temporarily conditioned empty room may differ from the occupied household routine. If underfloor heating exists, request the relevant commissioning record and the installer’s stated requirements before timber is laid.

Plan the household consequences of a delay: furniture storage, access between rooms and the next available installation slot. These arrangements should be proportionate to the project. They are useful because an unresolved screed condition otherwise creates pressure to proceed simply because the beds have already been moved.

Use a bounded example to compare contractor responses

Consider a hypothetical apartment with an existing cementitious screed and a newly repaired plumbing channel crossing the hallway. The owner wants bonded engineered timber throughout. One bidder includes laying over a 'prepared floor'; another includes moisture testing, a mapped preparation allowance and a return visit if the repaired channel is not ready.

The first offer is not necessarily poor, but its boundary is unresolved. Ask who prepares the floor, who accepts the channel and whether the installer can postpone that area without creating an awkward finished junction. Give both bidders the same facts before comparing totals.

Suppose the channel fails the selected system’s criterion while the bedrooms pass. The useful decision is whether a phased installation is technically and practically acceptable, or whether the connected area should wait. That decision requires the installer’s assessment of the layout and product. It cannot be answered by averaging readings across the apartment.

Put the release decision into the renovation brief

Your brief should include investigation and testing, removal of unsuitable residues, agreed surface correction, specified materials, protection and the readiness record. State exclusions such as leak repairs, extensive screed replacement or threshold alterations. An exclusion is manageable when someone is assigned to it before installation.

Name the flooring contractor responsible for accepting the substrate for their system. If another party performs preparation, require a clear handover between them. The owner approves commercial changes; the installer remains responsible for explaining whether the proposed construction meets the installation requirements.

The floor replacement cost guide helps frame which preparation and finishing items belong in comparable offers. Attach the readiness requirements to your enquiry, then prepare a domestic renovation brief through Renovate.cy and compare contractors willing to price that complete boundary. Keep the test record and final accepted specification with the household’s renovation documents.

Frequently asked questions

Can screed be accepted because it has dried through summer?

Weather and elapsed time provide context, but acceptance should use the selected flooring system’s requirements and a documented assessment of the actual screed.

Does a moisture barrier remove the need to investigate a leak?

No. Ask which moisture condition the proposed product addresses. Continuing water entry needs its own investigation and resolution.

Who should accept preparation done by another contractor?

The flooring installer should explicitly accept the prepared substrate for the specified installation, with unresolved conditions recorded before laying.

Can extra adhesive replace floor levelling?

Do not assume so. Bona states that its adhesive is not designed for levelling; require a preparation method supported by the selected system.

Prepare a domestic renovation brief and compare suitable contractors.