Sarasota Microcement

Where does it work best?

• Floors: One continuous floor from room to room, stairs and covered patios included.
• Walls: A soft, stone-like finish with no joints, on ceilings and backsplashes too.
• Showers: Seamless walls and floors, sealed for water with Cimentart's Aqua line.
• Over old tile: Often straight over tile that's firmly stuck down, so the old floor can stay.

How do you look after it?

• Stay off a new floor for three days, and keep it dry for the first week.
• Clean it with water and a neutral detergent: never acids, strong alkaline cleaners, abrasives or solvents.
• Don't leave water standing on it, and put pads under the furniture legs.
• Go gently in the first weeks, while it reaches its full hardness.
• From the second month, Cimentart recommends a coat of acrylic wax each month, and polishing brings back a shine that has dulled.

How is microcement applied?

1. The prep. Microcement follows whatever is under it, so the base has to be sound: new concrete or plaster at least three weeks old and dry, old tile firmly stuck down (anything that sounds hollow comes out). A primer helps it grip, and a fiberglass mesh goes in.
2. The base coats. Two, sometimes three, thin and even, by hand.
3. The finish coats. Two fine coats bring the color and the texture. Every pass of the trowel leaves a little movement, the handmade look people choose it for.
4. The seal. A sealer, then two coats of polyurethane varnish in matte, satin or gloss, with one more of each where water reaches it.
5. The wait. Walk on it after three days, let it get wet after a week; a floor reaches its full hardness in about four weeks.

All of that adds up to a surface just a few millimeters thick.

Where can it go?

Almost anywhere inside: floors, walls and ceilings, stairs, bathrooms and showers, kitchens, even furniture. It goes over most of what a house is made of, concrete, plaster and drywall, and once prepared, tile, porcelain, wood and paint. Being thin, it suits underfloor heating too. Outside, it goes on a covered patio: for showers, wet rooms and outdoors, Cimentart makes its Aqua line, and since sun and heat make surfaces expand and contract, outdoor work is planned for that.

Where it doesn't go: pools, spots where water stands and outdoor floors with no roof over them, which Cimentart doesn't recommend, and a slab with rising damp, until a waterproofing layer goes on first.

Our showroom has a bath display finished in microcement, in several textures and finishes, so you can see it and run your hand over it before you choose.

Can microcement go over existing tile?

Often, yes. It bonds to sound, well-prepared tile, which saves tearing the old floor out; any tile that sounds hollow comes out first. We check the surface at the free estimate.

How thick is microcement?

Only about an eighth of an inch, depending on the system, so it can go over what is there without raising the floor much.

Does microcement crack?

It follows the surface under it, so cracks or movement in the base can come through. That's why the preparation matters as much as the finish.

Is microcement slippery?

It can be when it's wet, so the finish matters: Cimentart's water-based polyurethane varnish slips less, and for floors that get wet an anti-slip additive can go into it.