ᐅ Screed vs. Fast-Drying Screed

Hello everyone,

We are now approaching the screed phase and I wanted to ask for your opinions. The screed is scheduled to be poured at the beginning of December, and there are two options. In both cases, the air-to-water heat pump will be used for heating.

Option 1: Standard screed, ready for covering after about 4 weeks. No extra costs but a longer heating phase. Is this better because it allows more drying time?

Option 2: Fast-drying screed (chemical). Ready for covering after about 2 weeks, additional costs of $1000–2000. I could use the Christmas period for the painting work. In the new year, tiling will be done immediately, which means I could only do that after handover, resulting in a later move-in.

Does anyone have experience with fast-drying screeds? I couldn’t find any health concerns about them. Are there other advantages?

Thank you very much!

Bauenaberwie schrieb:

Does anyone have experience with fast-setting screeds? I couldn’t find any negative health effects. Are there any other advantages?

The only real advantage is the speed – my screed was ready for covering after about a week. That’s roughly 1.5 months faster than traditional cement screed, which usually needs about three weeks before the heating can start – and that heating phase takes at least another two weeks.

And time is money – less double housekeeping means less rent, less commuting, and so on.
However, for 120 m² (1,292 sq ft) of screed, it only cost 400€.

No, you can simply mix the screed with less water, which shortens the drying time.
My expert said that the two-week product is still usable, but he had bad experiences with the seven-day or faster-drying products.

Ok, great, thanks to all of you. Then I think we will go with the 2-week option.

We also had a fast-drying screed in our first house; it was included as standard for us.
We had no complaints.

I once read somewhere that it tends to cup more, but is that really true?
We had relatively few problems with it. Sure, it cupped a bit in the corners, and you have to redo the silicone joints where there were tiles. But I think that is fairly normal.

If it’s only about painting, I would save your money.
You can walk on regular screed comfortably after just one week.
The more time you give the screed, the better it gets (due to shrinkage; after about 6–9 months, the screed has contracted).