The Journal - Costs

Microcement floor cost per m²: what actually sets the price.

By The Venetian Plaster Company · 7 min read

"How much is microcement per square metre?" is the question we are asked more than any other and the honest answer is that the per-metre figure is the least useful number in the quote. Two floors of identical size can differ in price by half again and the finish you chose will have almost nothing to do with it. This article explains what does - so that when you compare quotations, you are comparing the right things.

Why a rate per square metre misleads

A microcement floor is a hand-applied system, not a product sold by the metre. Every floor carries a fixed cost that does not change with size - the survey, the sample panel, travel, equipment and the four to six separate visits the curing schedule demands - and a variable cost that does. Divide the fixed part across a large open-plan ground floor and it almost disappears into the rate. Divide it across a single cloakroom and it dominates. That is why the same company, using the same materials and the same applicators, will quote a very different rate for a 60 m² kitchen-diner than for a 4 m² en-suite - and why any headline "from" rate you see advertised describes the large, simple job, not yours.

The rate is an output of the survey, not an input to it. Anyone who gives you a firm rate before seeing the floor is guessing and the guess is usually optimistic.

The six things that set the price

  1. What is underneath. This is the biggest variable on any floor quotation. A sound, dry, level screed needs priming and a mesh. A cracked, dusty, hollow or uneven one needs grinding, repair or a self-levelling compound first - sometimes all three. Existing tiles can often be coated over, which saves demolition, but they need keying and any loose ones re-fixed. None of this is visible in a photograph, which is why we survey before we quote.
  2. Size and shape. Area sets the material quantity; shape sets the labour. A rectangle is quick. A floor with many doorways, a stair, a plinth, a level change or a run of built-in joinery is worked by hand around every one of them and takes proportionally longer.
  3. Wet or dry. A bathroom or wet-room floor becomes part of a sealed system: membrane, falls formed to the drain in the base coats, pressure testing before the finish goes down and a textured slip-resistant seal. That is a different specification from a living-room floor and it costs more, for good reason.
  4. The seal. The sealer is the working layer. A guest bedroom, a family kitchen and a café floor do not get the same one and the higher-traffic seals are more expensive. Specifying the right seal for the life the floor will lead is the difference between a floor that looks the same in ten years and one that needs attention in three.
  5. Access and programme. Fifth-floor flats without a lift, out-of-hours access on commercial sites, or a programme that has to interlock with other trades all add time. So does underfloor heating - not the material, but the commissioning schedule around it.
  6. Who is applying it. Every visible characteristic of the finish - the clouding, the movement, the depth - comes from the hands holding the trowel. Experienced applicators cost more per day. They also make the floor you were shown in the sample, rather than a version of it.

Where the money goes

The raw material in a microcement floor is a modest share of the total - typically well under a third. The rest is preparation and applied skill: the grinding and levelling, the days on site, the time between coats that cannot be compressed, the sealing. This is worth knowing when you compare quotes, because it tells you where a cheap quote has saved. The material cost barely varies between reputable systems, so a quotation that comes in dramatically under the others has almost always cut preparation, cut coats, or is being carried out by someone who has not done many floors. Those savings reappear later as cracks that telegraph through, a seal that wears early, or a finish that does not match the panel you signed off.

How microcement compares with the alternatives

Judged on the day of installation, a microcement floor generally sits above ceramic tile and in the same territory as good porcelain or engineered timber and below natural stone and poured resin of equivalent quality. Judged over the life of the floor the comparison shifts: there is no grout to re-do, no boards to sand and re-sealing every three to five years is a day's visit rather than a renovation. The fair comparison is with what you would otherwise have had installed to the same standard - including its preparation, which tile and timber need just as much as we do and which is often quoted separately.

For a fuller comparison see microcement vs tiles and for the question of coating over what is already there, microcement over existing tiles.

How to bring the cost down honestly

  • Get the substrate right before we arrive. If a new screed is going in, specify it level and let it dry fully; we moisture-test rather than take a builder's word. A floor that arrives ready saves grinding and levelling days.
  • Do adjoining areas at once. A hallway added to a kitchen shares the set-up and the visits. Two separate jobs six months apart pay for both twice.
  • Keep the layout simple where it can be. Every additional level change, plinth or stair is hand-formed. Where a detail earns its place, keep it; where it doesn't, the floor is cheaper and cleaner without it.
  • Choose the seal for the room, not the catalogue. A bedroom does not need a commercial-grade seal. A kitchen does need a better one than a bedroom.

What we would never suggest is fewer coats, a thinner build-up or skipping the mesh. Those savings are invisible on day one and expensive later.

Five questions to ask anyone quoting you

  1. Have you surveyed the floor and what did you find under it?
  2. What preparation is included and what happens if the substrate turns out to need more?
  3. How many coats, is a mesh included and which sealer - and why that one for this room?
  4. Who will actually apply it and can I see a floor they made?
  5. Will I sign off a physical sample panel before you start and is what I sign off what I get?

A good quotation answers all five without being asked. If it doesn't, the low rate per metre is not the bargain it looks.

The short version

The per-metre figure describes the last floor, not yours. What sets your price is the substrate, the shape, wet or dry, the seal, the access and the hands - in roughly that order. Get the preparation right, size the seal to the room and compare quotes on what is included rather than on the headline rate and a microcement floor is fairly priced for what it is: a seamless surface, made by hand, that outlasts most of the alternatives.

Questions we're asked about floor pricing.

Why won't you give a price per square metre over the phone?

Because we would be guessing. The condition of the substrate is the single largest variable on a floor quotation and it cannot be seen in a photograph. We survey first, then quote a fixed price for the whole floor with the preparation included, so there are no surprises once we start.

Is a small bathroom floor cheaper than a large kitchen floor?

In total, usually yes; per square metre, no. A small wet-room floor carries the same survey, sample, travel and curing visits as a large room, plus waterproofing and a slip-resistant seal, so its rate per metre is the highest of any floor we do. The large, simple, dry floor is where the per-metre rate is lowest.

Does microcement cost more than tiles?

On installation it is generally above ceramic tile and similar to good porcelain, once the preparation both need is counted. Over the life of the floor there is no grout to renew and re-sealing is a day's visit, which narrows the gap. See our full comparison of microcement and tiles for the detail.

Can microcement go over my existing floor to save money?

Often. Sound tiles, screed and some timber substrates can be coated over after keying and repair, which saves demolition and disposal and keeps floor levels where they are. Loose, hollow or moving substrates cannot and we will tell you that at survey.

What is the cheapest way to have a microcement floor?

Present us with a level, dry, sound substrate; do adjoining rooms in one visit; keep level changes and stairs to the ones that earn their place; and choose a seal matched to the room rather than the heaviest available. Never economise on coats, mesh or preparation - those savings return as repairs.

Want a real number?

Send us the room, a photo of the floor as it is and where it is - we'll tell you what it needs and quote it properly.

Request a survey→

We use cookies

We use cookies to make our website work and with your permission, to understand how it is used so we can improve it. You can accept all cookies, reject all non-essential cookies, or choose which ones to allow. Essential cookies are always on because the site cannot work without them. Read our Cookie Policy.