Microcement for Interior Designers

Your clients have already seen it. It is on every mood board that comes back from a trip to Europe, and it is the finish behind half the hotel bathrooms people photograph. The problem has never been whether they want it — it is sourcing it and finding someone to put it on.

Why it reads the way it does

A seamless surface has no repeat and no joint, so the eye has nothing to measure the room against. That is why microcement makes small rooms read larger and why a floor that runs unbroken from an entry through to a living space changes the whole plan without moving a wall.

It also takes a corner. Floor to wall, wall to bench, wall to vanity front — the same finish turns through 90 degrees with no trim, no transition and no change of material. Almost nothing else does that.

Specifying it properly

There are two systems and the difference is structural, not decorative. Getting this right in the spec is the single most useful thing you can do, because it roughly doubles or halves the material budget.

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What to tell the client before they fall in love

• It is handmade. Trowelled by a person, so it has movement and variation in it. That is the material, not a defect. A client who wants dead-flat uniformity wants a different product.
• The substrate shows. No grout line, no lippage allowance. A wavy wall stays a wavy wall. Prep is most of the budget and most of the programme.
• Sealer is a real decision. It sets the sheen and how the surface behaves with water, stains and traffic. Specify it deliberately rather than leaving it to whoever is on site.
• Sample first. Always. It moves with light and with the hand that applied it, and a photograph will not tell you what a room will look like.

Who puts it on

Two routes, and it is worth knowing both.

A certified installer. Our sister company Microcement USA runs a network of trained, certified applicators across the country and can connect you with one. If the project is a client's primary bathroom, this is the route.

A trade you already work with. Because Microvella sells direct with no certification requirement, a painter, tiler or remodeler you already trust can buy the material and do the work. We have written the brief for them — send them to painters, tile installers or contractors.

Budgeting it

Materials are about $7 a square foot for Core and about $14 for Reinforced, before labour. Small areas are much worse per square foot than that because you cannot buy half a pail — a 40 sq ft shower floor costs the same in material as a 100 sq ft surround. Specify the whole room and the number gets far more reasonable. The material calculator will price a real area for you.

Common questions

See the full product list and what each coat does.