Microcement vs Tile: Cost, Time and What Actually Changes
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On materials alone, tile is cheaper. If you are comparing a box of tile against a pallet of our product, tile wins and it is not close.
That is not where the money goes on a real job.
Where the money actually goes
Retiling a bathroom over an existing tiled floor normally starts with a demolition day. Tear out, haul off, disposal, and then whatever you find underneath once the old bed is gone — which is the part nobody can price in advance. Then a tiler’s time, and often a second trade if the waterproofing needs redoing.
Microcement goes on at about 2 mm over what is already there. No demolition, no dumpster, no disposal, no surprise subfloor. If you are doing the work yourself there is no labour line at all.
So the honest comparison: microcement materials cost more, total project cost is usually lower, and the gap widens the more demolition the tile job would have needed.
What our materials cost
| Job | System | Area | Materials | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shower floor only | Reinforced | 40 sq ft | $2,676 | $66.90 |
| Shower surround | Reinforced | 100 sq ft | $2,676 | $26.76 |
| Bathroom, walls and floor | Reinforced | 250 sq ft | $3,325 | $13.30 |
| Feature wall | Core | 150 sq ft | $1,778 | $11.85 |
| Living room floor | Core | 400 sq ft | $3,226 | $8.06 |
Note the first two rows. They cost the same because you cannot buy half a pail. This is the one place tile is genuinely and permanently cheaper: a single small surface. If you are doing one shower floor and nothing else, tile it. Full cost breakdown here.
The practical differences
Height. Microcement adds about 2 mm. Tile plus thinset adds much more, which is how you end up undercutting doors and rebuilding thresholds.
Grout. There is none. No scrubbing, no resealing, no grey corner, and no grout for mould to colonise — which is where most bathroom mould actually lives.
Repair. Microcement repairs in place. A cracked tile in the middle of a run means finding a match you probably do not have.
Impact. Tile is harder. Drop a cast iron pan and microcement will mark where a porcelain tile might not. Tile, of course, also cracks.
Time. Microcement is days rather than weeks — but consecutive days, with coats going on close together.
Doing it yourself. Tile is more forgiving to learn on, because the joints hide small errors. Microcement has nothing to hide behind, but there is also no cutting, no layout and no grouting.
Which one for which job
Choose tile for one small isolated surface, for a substrate you are not willing to prepare properly, or when you want maximum impact resistance.
Choose microcement when you are doing a whole room or more, when the existing surface is sound and you want to avoid demolition, when you want continuity between surfaces, or when the client has told you they are done with grout.
Which system you need
Core is primer, microcement, sealer. It covers interior walls, bare concrete floors and indoor fireplaces.
Reinforced adds fiberglass mesh bedded into a structural build coat. You need it for anything wet, anything outdoors, and any floor that is not bare concrete. The mesh is what stops movement underneath reaching your finish.
Microvella ships late 2026. Join the waitlist and we will email you the day it is ready to order.
Related: Full cost breakdown · Shop the full system