Microcement in Bristol

Microcement in Bristol is a thin, seamless coating that runs from floor to wall to shower tray with no grout lines. Zavoré installs microcement and teaches it, and we are based in Birmingham, where the Academy is. For materials we sell the lime built pastellone and beton stucco, which give a similar seamless look. A sample board shows you the surfaces dry.

Converted warehouses, terraces and new flats

Bristol has a long history of reusing old industrial buildings. Tobacco and sugar warehouses along the harbour and in Bedminster have become flats and offices, with exposed brick, big openings and open plan floors. Newer blocks around Temple Quarter and Wapping Wharf have the same open plan, with concrete or screeded floors underneath. A single seamless floor suits those spaces, because there are no thresholds between kitchen, hall and living area.

Victorian terraces in Southville, Bedminster, Bishopston and Totterdown tell a different story. The ground floor often has timber boards, a solid floor patched over the years, or an extension with a modern screed. Microcement is thin, so it shows what is underneath. Springy joists, loose tiles and cracks will come through, and no coating bridges a floor that moves.

That is why we survey first. We tell you plainly if the floor needs levelling, overboarding or a damp problem fixing before anything goes down.

Where microcement works in a Bristol home

Our microcement finishes are used where a joint free surface earns its keep.

• Bathrooms and wet rooms, with the floor turning up the wall and into the shower.
• Open plan kitchen and living floors in extensions at the back of terraces.
• Kitchen worktops and splashbacks.
• Cafes, bars and shop floors in the harbourside and the city centre.

The sealer is what makes microcement washable and waterproof, so the primer, the mesh and the sealer matter as much as the cement. On a properly prepared and waterproofed wall it works in a shower. It does not belong over a floor that still moves.

How a microcement job in Bristol runs

Every job starts with a survey of the substrate, flatness, cracks, damp, movement, access and how the room will be used. Small questions can often be answered from photos. We then agree a colour on a sample board and tint to that approved sample before the material ships.

Bristol is some way from our centres, so the work is planned in blocks of days. The team stays on the job and lays each coat in order, so the floor is built up properly rather than rushed. Dates are agreed once the sample and price are signed off. See our microcement installation page for the stages.

Buying materials and training

If you prefer your own decorator, the lime built finishes are on our shop with tracked UK delivery, and trade accounts are on the trade page. A confident decorator can learn beton stucco on a board, and the microcement course runs at our training centres in Birmingham, London and Manchester. For a bathroom or a floor we would ask you to leave it to us.

More finishes in Bristol

Microcement is one of several finishes we lay, and a house often wants more than one. Look at polished plaster in Bristol, limewash in Bristol, tadelakt in Bristol, marmorino in Bristol, clay plaster in Bristol, concrete effect plaster in Bristol, liquid metal in Bristol and decorative finishes specialist in Bristol. Each is laid by our own applicators. For plain lime plaster work, see Venetian plastering in Bristol.

Questions about microcement in Bristol

Can microcement go over my existing Bristol bathroom tiles?

Sometimes, but it depends on the tiles being sound, flat and well bonded. We check at survey and say plainly if they need stripping first.

Is microcement waterproof in a shower?

The sealed surface on a properly prepared, waterproofed wall is. The sealer does that job, not the cement, so the preparation matters.

Will it crack on an old floor?

A floor that still moves will show through a thin coating. Springy joists, loose tiles and structural cracks need dealing with first.

Do you sell microcement to use myself?

We install microcement. For materials we sell the lime built pastellone and beton stucco, which suit a confident decorator.

Send a photo of the floor or wall and we will tell you what it needs. Call 07592 929191 (Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm) or email sales@zavore.co.uk with photos, rough measurements and the postcode, and start with a sample board.