Ive heard about shrinkage cracking & curling in floor screeds, what are these and how do they occur?
A. Any material that has absorbed water, will shrink as it dries out. Sometimes, due to excessive drying, screeds will crack. If you try to artificially accelerate the drying times, of the table above, then there is more risk of cracking. Curling is caused by the same conditions but normally manifest along dayjoints and internal angles. The thinner the screeding material, to be used, the more likely that curling can occur, due to time taken to dry will be quicker on a thinner bed, than a thicker bed. Another way to reduce shrinkage & cracking is to use water-reducing agents (super-plasticisers), these are used in Truscreed and K-screed and greatly reduce drying times.
