How long floor screed takes to dry before the floor covering goes down

The question we hear most once the screed is down: when can laminate, tiles or parquet go on? Rushing this is what ruins a floor a month or two later. Here are the real timings for each type of screed and each covering.

The rule of thumb

The classic rule for a cement-sand screed is 1 cm of thickness = 1 week of drying. So 5 cm needs five weeks and 7 cm nearly two months. That formula is for wet screed at around +20°C and up to 60% humidity.

The figure shifts with:

• the room temperature (colder means longer)
• the air humidity (higher means longer)
• whether there is any ventilation
• the type of screed (semi-dry dries faster)

Semi-dry screed

A semi-dry machine-applied screed holds far less water than a classic wet one, so it dries faster:

• You can walk on it — after 24 hours (carefully)
• Tiles can be laid — from day 7–14 (after a moisture check)
• Ready for laminate and parquet — on day 21–28 for thicknesses up to 50 mm, after a moisture check (≤2%)

Wet (classic) screed

Cement and sand with plenty of water in the mix. The timings are longer:

• You can walk on it — after 3–4 days
• Tiles — after 2–3 weeks
• Laminate, parquet — after 4–8 weeks

How to check it is ready

Method 1: a sheet of polythene

Tape a 1 × 1 m piece of polythene down onto the screed, sealing all four edges, and leave it for 24 hours. Droplets underneath mean the screed is still wet. A dry sheet means you can lay the covering.

Method 2: a moisture meter

The accurate way. Permissible residual moisture in the screed:

• laminate, parquet, vinyl, linoleum — no more than 2.0%
• ceramic tile on rigid adhesive — the same 2,0%
• screed with underfloor heating — 1,8%
• gypsum (anhydrite) screeds — 0,5%

Method 3: by eye

The screed turns light grey (fresh screed is darker). It is the least reliable check though — use the polythene or a meter.

What happens if you lay the covering too early

What actually goes wrong:

• Laminate — swells, gaps open up, the joints come apart
• Parquet — moves, cracks, lifts in places
• Linoleum — blisters and lifts away from the substrate
• Tiles — less sensitive, but the adhesive can let go

How to speed drying up

• Ventilate the room — but no fierce draughts, or you get cracks
• The best temperature is +18-25°C
• Do not switch the underfloor heating on before 28 days have passed
• Do not aim a heater at the screed — uneven drying cracks it
• Cover it with polythene for the first 7–10 days — this does not slow drying, it helps the screed gain strength evenly

In short: when you can lay

For a 5 cm semi-dry screed in normal conditions:

• Tiles — from day 7–14
• Laminate — day 21–28
• Parquet — day 28–35

Why tiles can go down sooner. Drying all the way down to 2% takes longer — roughly a week per centimetre of thickness. But ceramic tile on cement adhesive tolerates residual moisture: it is vapour-permeable through the joints, so the last of the water escapes from under the finished floor. Laminate, parquet and vinyl cannot do that — the moisture is trapped, which is why they wait for the 2% check. Where the demands are higher (large format, epoxy adhesive, underfloor heating) tiles get the 2% check too.

Do not trust a guess — use the polythene test or a meter. Saving a week on the covering can cost you the whole floor.