Drying time for screed in new construction before laying parquet

Hello everyone,

we are currently building a terraced house. The screed will be installed in about a month. We only have underfloor heating on the ground floor. We have already heard quite a bit about drying times. Since we want to lay parquet with a click system ourselves on all floors, we would like to know how long one should wait approximately before starting to lay it. Is about 4 weeks with underfloor heating and 6 weeks without realistic? We have also heard that you can measure the moisture. Can you buy this drying device somewhere or is it only for professionals?

Furthermore, on the ground floor, due to the underfloor heating, we want to glue the click parquet. What kind of adhesive is usually used for that, and what should amateurs keep in mind when gluing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

It is dry when it is dry. It depends on which screed was used. Before you lay anything, you have to have the moisture measured. Drying devices speed up the whole process, but can be very expensive.... they consume a lot of electricity.

The screed will be laid here in about 1 month. We expect (including underfloor heating) a drying time of 6-8 weeks. An acquaintance had to wait 10 weeks despite underfloor heating. So I think there are quite significant differences and of course I hope that it won’t take that long for us.

Screed drying is a science in itself. If you lay the floor yourself, I would rent a measuring device. It costs 20€ per day at our hardware store. If a professional installs it, they measure beforehand anyway. In our house, two different types of screed are used: fast screed, which is ready for covering in 10 days (it contains a lot of chemical binding agents) and normal screed, which takes 4-6 weeks. The drying time depends on the residual moisture. And this can be influenced by underfloor heating, air conditioning, but also by the installation process. If it is mixed with more water, it also takes longer, etc. Glued click parquet is supposed to have some effect? Better conductivity? As a layman, I would doubt that. That is why click parquet is not glued, but thinner parquet flooring is glued, whereby the floor must be specially sanded beforehand.

So the click parquet is supposedly supposed to be glued with underfloor heating because up to 30% of the heating energy is lost. I am also just a layman and therefore cannot confirm this for sure. But I have already read quite a bit about this.

I would advise against drying devices. Drying the screed too quickly can lead to cracking or flaking.