Is ventilation/drying after installing screed/interior plaster sensible?

Hello everyone,

Our shell has been standing since November; we are waiting for consistently above-freezing temperatures and depending on the weather will continue with the application of the interior plaster and screed in March/April (single-family house, 143 sqm, fully basemented).

In the basement, we have underfloor heating in 3 out of 4 rooms; only the technical room is unheated. In one basement room we have a large daylight window, the other 3 (including the one without underfloor heating) have normal basement shafts with windows.

Since we have great respect for the topic of "moisture" and do not want any time pressure, we really want to continue with the flooring only when the residual moisture measurements provide certainty.

My thought now was whether we should use 2-3 construction dryers in parallel to the weeks-long consistent shock ventilation (5 times a day is reliably feasible over several weeks; I work 4 km away from the construction site; my parents live next door) to support the drying process for about 2 weeks, approximately 4-5 weeks after the screed is laid.

The primary idea here is not faster drying but more thorough drying.

What do you think? Is the few hundred euros well spent?

By the way, fleece screed is being used.

Thanks for your opinions.

We had a detailed consultation from the company that offers dehumidifiers/fans. Depending on the size of the house, he then recommended the number of devices. It was the best decision we could have made because everything was properly dried, the screed had already been in for 3 weeks at the time, and despite airing out, it was really damp. After 2 weeks, everything was dry. However, we were also over €1,000 poorer in total due to electricity.

Seriously that expensive? Can others confirm that? Possibly just a one-off case. Can you break down the costs a bit more? Number of devices, rent, electricity, etc.

Each with 7 dryers and 7 blowers
Electricity about 600
The rest is rent
Basement, ground floor and upper floor

Hi,

why not just wait 2-3 weeks longer, heat moderately and ventilate? At these temperatures, that works very well!

Best regards, Barossi

The OP has already presented his time frame, so why the inquiry? €1000 drying costs vs. rent, provision interest, interim rent with storage, etc. – there can be many reasons. The calculation is simple and quick. But for the OP, it’s about a qualitative advantage, not time.