Microcement vs Venetian Plaster: Which One Do You Actually Want?

They photograph almost identically, which is why they get confused. Underneath they are different materials doing different jobs.

The short version

Venetian plaster is lime-based. It is a decorative wall finish, burnished to a polish, with real depth and movement in the surface. It belongs on dry interior walls and ceilings.

Microcement is cement-based, with polymers for flexibility and adhesion. It is a surfacing system rated for floors, wet areas and traffic as well as walls.

If the surface will be walked on, stood in while wet, or wiped down daily, you want microcement. If you want a beautiful dry wall and nothing more is being asked of it, Venetian plaster is a lovely thing.

Where they differ in practice

• Floors. Microcement is rated for them. Venetian plaster is not.
• Showers and wet rooms. Microcement is waterproof in itself — the microcement, not the sealer over it. Venetian plaster is not a wet-area finish.
• Movement. Microcement has a reinforced option with fiberglass mesh in a structural build coat, which is how it can go straight over tile without the grout lines coming back.
• Look. Venetian plaster can be burnished to a genuine polish and a depth microcement does not chase. Microcement reads as stone or concrete.

What about tadelakt and limewash?

Both lime again. Tadelakt is a traditional Moroccan lime plaster, polished with stone and sealed with soap, and it does get used in wet areas — but it is highly specialised work. Limewash is a thin decorative paint-like finish, not a surfacing system at all.

How to choose

Ask what the surface has to survive rather than what it should look like. Both materials give you a seamless mineral finish. Only one of them is rated to be a shower floor.

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