For the purpose of development of the latex suitable for polymer cement mortar, experiments on the preparation of carboxylated styrene butadiene latex by the method of the two-step emulsion polymerization were performed. Methyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid and acrylic acid were selected as carboxylic co-monomer, styrene and butadiene as monomer, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate and sodium salt of lauryl sulfonate as anionic emulsifiers, and nonylphenoxy poly (ethyleneoxy) ethanol (n=10, 20, 40) as latex stabilizer. Potassium persulfate and sodium bisulfite were also used as redox initiator, and sodium monohydrogen phosphate and potassium carbonate as electrolytes. The effects of categories and concentration of carboxylic co-monomer, molecular weight control agent, crosslinking agent, and styrene/ butadiene monomer ratio on the characteristics of latex were investigated. Polymerization recipes for preparation of polymer cement mortar could be proposed. The prepared latexes were tested for the physical properties such as compressive and flexural strength when latexes were mixed with cement mortar. The results showed that the latex could be adapted to polymer cement mortar. Also, it was recognized that the compressive and flexural strength were exhibited 25.4% and 45.3% respectively higher improvement than the quality standards at 28 days curing time.