Microcement Kitchens: The Pros and Cons

Microcement is a thin, hand-trowelled cement finish applied over almost any sound surface, and in a kitchen it can be the worktop, the splashback, the walls and the floor at once. It is the finish that makes a room read as surfaces rather than components, and it has become one of the island’s most asked-for looks. Here is the honest case for and against.

The pros

• No joints and no grout: the worktop runs into the wall, the floor runs under the units and out through the door
• A warm, hand-made surface that takes the light like plaster and changes through the day
• Any colour the pigment allows, usually a warm grey, a sand, a stone or an off-white
• It goes over a sound existing floor or worktop, so a renovation can skip the demolition
• It continues onto a terrace with an outdoor sealer, so indoor and outdoor can be one surface
• It suits both a Mediterranean kitchen and a modern one, which few finishes do

The cons

• The worktop is the hardest place for it: cut on, spilled on and cleaned every day, and only the sealer stands between the cement and the lemon
• It marks with use; the style accepts patina, and an owner who does not should keep it off the working top
• The substrate has to be sound, dry and stable, and a crack underneath comes through
• The finish is done on site over days and the kitchen is out of use while it cures
• It is priced by labour and area, so a whole kitchen in microcement is a mid-to-high finish, not a budget one
• The result is entirely the applicator: a system rushed at any stage fails at that stage

The usual compromise, which is not one

Many microcement kitchens here put the finish on the walls, the floor and the sides of the island, and a porcelain or a stone on the working top. The look is kept, the surface that is cut and spilled on has a harder life, and the applicator has fewer edges to detail. It is the version that ages best, and it is what most companies that work with microcement will propose for a rental or a family kitchen.

What to ask an applicator

• Can I see a kitchen you did, and one that is a few years old?
• What is the substrate under the worktop, and how are the edges and the sink cut-out detailed?
• Which sealer, how is it maintained, and how long before it wants doing again?
• How many days is the kitchen out of use, and what is the curing time before it is used?
• What happens if the floor underneath cracks?

The microcement kitchens page describes the style in full and is where the request goes.