Microcement FAQs

Microcement is a cement coating coloured with pigment and spread on by hand with a trowel, the flat steel tool plasterers use. A primer goes on first so it grips what's underneath, then the base coats, the top coats and a clear sealer. It sets as one continuous surface, so there are no tiles and no grout lines to clean.

The finished coat is usually 2 to 3 mm thick. That's why, when it goes over old tiles, it only raises the floor by a few millimetres.

Inside, it goes on bathroom walls and floors, showers, vanities, kitchen benchtops, splashbacks and feature walls. It can also run as one floor through the living areas, kitchen and laundry. It works outside too, and our own jobs include an outdoor kitchen benchtop and courtyard walls. For pools there's a separate product in the range we use, called Micropool.

Yes, it can go over all three. The surface has to be firm, because microcement can crack if what's under it moves. At the site visit we check for anything loose or springy. Then we prime it, which helps the microcement bond to it.

Yes. Micro concrete is another name for the same cement-based coating.

Yes, as long as they're firmly stuck down. The tiles are cleaned so there's no grease or dust left on them, and a fibreglass mesh goes over them to help stop cracks. The waterproof layer under your tiles, called a membrane, stays as it was put in. If the shower already leaks, that's fixed first, because a new finish on top won't stop a leak.

We fill them as part of the prep, then prime the surface so the first coat grips.

A little. Because it sits on top of your old tiles, the floor goes up by a few millimetres.

It can, if the surface underneath it shifts. When we go over tiles, we fill the grout lines and add a reinforcing mesh made of fibreglass. In the corners, where walls meet the floor or each other, the mesh wraps around the corner and the joins are taped. On the walls, each coat goes on while the last is still a little damp, to stop delamination, which is the layers separating.

Microcement sheds water, so it runs off the surface, and in a shower it goes on top of the waterproofing rather than replacing it. In Australia that waterproofing is a membrane, a waterproof layer under the finish, made to the AS/NZS 4858 standard and put in to AS 3740. If your shower is ripped out, it gets a new membrane before anything else. If we go over your tiles, the old membrane stays under them, and the primer that bonds to the tiles is a waterproofing product too.

Like any smooth sealed floor, microcement can get slippery when it's wet. For shower floors there are sealers made with a non-slip finish, so ask us about one for yours at the site visit. We also give the shower floor as much fall, a slope towards the drain, as it allows, so the water runs off.

Yes. The walls, floor and shower recess can all be done in one finish, with no grout lines for mould to grow in.

It's tinted with pigment, so it comes in warm, natural and cool tones, from chalk white through to charcoal. You pick your colour from the colour chart when we quote.

The sealer on top decides it. You can have a matte finish or one with a soft sheen.

Sweep or vacuum a floor before you mop it, because grit dulls the sealer, then mop with the cleaner we leave you and don't scrub. Wipe up oil, food colouring and paint straight away, and put felt pads under chair and table legs so nothing scrapes across it. For some days after it's sealed, the surface is still curing, which means hardening, so don't mop it until then. When the sealer starts to wear, it can be given a fresh coat of sealer, usually about once a year if it needs it.

Yes. A damaged spot can be re-trowelled and resealed where it is, without redoing the whole surface. The patch may not match the rest exactly.

Every room is priced on its own after we've come out and seen it, and you don't pay for the quote. Going over firmly stuck tiles saves you paying for demolition and a skip bin. Tiles that have to come off add to the price, and so do small fiddly areas and curved shapes like window arches. Send a photo of the room with your enquiry and we'll tell you what's involved before we come out to see it.

Allow about three to four days for a bathroom around 2 by 2 metres where we're going over the tiles. We do the walls first, and all their coats go on in the one day, before the one underneath has dried. Then we do the floor, sanding and taking the dust away between coats. We lay less at a time on hot Perth days, so summer jobs, and rooms that are hard to get into, can take longer.

No, there isn't. A single vanity top, a powder room floor or one feature wall gets the same site visit and free quote as a whole bathroom.

We call you back to talk about the room, then book a time to come and see it. After the visit, you get your quote.

Yes. The quote is free and you don't have to go ahead.

All of Perth, north and south of the river, from Joondalup down to Rockingham and out to the hills.