How Long Before You Can Walk On Liquid Screed?

While it may be tempting to build on liquid screed right away but it’s important to have it dry completely before you start to walk and build on it…

Drying Time

24-48 hours is the recommended amount of time needed before the liquid screed is ok to walk on. However, if you want to build on the screed a period of 7 days is needed for it to dry properly, this is dependent on site conditions.

Final Installation 

The screed must be completely dry before installing the final floor finishes, the product will dry naturally at a rate of 1mm per day up to 40mm, any depth above this will dry at a rate of 0.5mm per day. So for example, if your liquid screed was laid at 50mm it will be naturally dry in 60 days.

How Long for Liquid Screed to Dry Completely?

The product will dry naturally at a rate of 1mm per day up to 40mm. Any depth above this will dry at a rate of 0.5mm per day. So for example, if your liquid screed was laid at 50mm it will be naturally dry in 60 days.

Be aware that some conditions may affect how fast the screed dries. Cold temperatures and higher humidity will slow down the drying process. Some concrete screed formulations take even longer to dry and are primarily used when drying conditions are suboptimal anyway. Airflow also affects the drying process, which is why you are recommended to keep windows and doors closed.

Some factors can help speed up the drying process or minimise delays. Forced drying is where you utilise heaters and dehumidifiers to speed up the process. However these should only be used after 7 days have passed, this is to minimise the likelihood of faults appearing in the screed. The underfloor heating system itself can be used to force dry the screed, but should only be done if you are recommended to do so.