Microcement is a thin-layer, polymer-modified mineral coating that is trowelled onto an existing substrate in several coats to create a seamless, hard-wearing surface with no joints. It is not a paint and it is not a screed: the binder, mineral filler and quartz aggregate package is engineered so that the cured film can carry foot traffic, resist water and still read as one continuous surface across a wall, a floor or a pool interior. Simon (Shenzhen Simon United Building Materials Co., Ltd.) has manufactured microcement and thick-layer decorative coatings since 2007 and organises its range into wall, floor, swimming pool and super commercial floor systems.

This guide is written for buyers and specifiers who are encountering the category for the first time. It explains what is inside a microcement system, which performance dimensions actually decide a specification, and where the material stops being the right answer.

Why the word "microcement" tells a buyer almost nothing

The name describes an appearance and a layer thickness, not a fixed formula. Two products sold under the same word can differ in binder chemistry, aggregate grading, number of coats, sealer type and intended traffic class. That is why three quotations for "microcement" may not be comparable at all, and why a price comparison made before the systems are defined is usually wasted effort.

The useful questions are narrower:

• What is the binder, and is it cement-based, resin-based or a hybrid?
• Is the product classified for decorative use only, or for traffic-bearing floors?
• Which performance dimensions are documented, and against which test standard?
• Does the intended surface — wall, floor, wet area or pool — match the formulation offered?

Buyers comparing microcement with conventional finishes usually focus on three gaps: joints and seams, long-term maintenance, and how the material behaves when the substrate moves. Those three points are addressed in the comparison section further down.

Where the category stands today

Microcement has moved from a niche decorative finish into a tracked product category. Published commercial research values the global microcement coating market at USD 1.8 billion in 2025, with two-component systems holding the largest product-type share at 48.3% and flooring end-use accounting for 37.5% of total revenue in the same year. In other words, the category is no longer dominated by wall-only decorative use; floors are the single largest application.

Standardisation has followed. In China, the industry group standard T/CECS 10192-2022 Polymer Microcement was led and compiled by Simon and came into effect in 2022, and it was awarded Advanced Standard status by the China Building Material Standardization Association. Its practical contribution is that it separates Type I decorative microcement from Type II high-performance microcement and defines application boundaries for the first time — which gives a specifier a vocabulary for saying "this floor needs the higher class" instead of arguing about brand names.

For a buyer, the implication is simple: the category now has enough internal structure that a specification can be written on performance rather than on marketing language.

What is actually inside a microcement system

A microcement is a composite. Its behaviour comes from the balance of five component groups, and changing any one of them changes what the finished surface can do.

• Natural mineral powders and fine mineral fillers — these form the body of the coating and set the fineness of the finished texture. They are the reason the surface reads as a mineral finish rather than a painted film.
• Quartz powder — a hard aggregate that contributes abrasion resistance and surface hardness, which matters most on floors and on horizontal surfaces that take repeated cleaning.
• Imported cement — the hydraulic component. It governs setting behaviour and dimensional stability, and its consistency is one of the reasons factory formulation outperforms site mixing.
• Water-based resin — the polymer phase. It supplies adhesion to the substrate, flexibility, water resistance and the low-emission profile that modern interiors require.
• Pigment and sealer — colour and the final protective layer. The sealer is a genuine part of the system, not an accessory; stain resistance and cleanability are largely decided here.

Simon's core wall-and-floor system is MC-7690, built on this mineral-and-resin composition. Two practical properties come out of that build: it can be applied directly onto existing ceramic tile and marble without demolition, and it can be produced in 120 basic colours with more than 1,000 mixing formulas, which is what makes custom colour microcement feasible for project work rather than a special order.

Three formulations a specifier will meet in practice

Most specification errors in this category come from treating one product as a universal answer. Simon's range splits by application, and the split is not cosmetic.

The distinction is practical rather than commercial. A wall system optimised for a delicate finish is not the material you want under rolling loads, and a high-strength commercial floor is over-specified for a ceiling. Pool interiors add a third requirement that neither of the other two carries: continuous chlorine exposure combined with thermal movement.

Five performance dimensions that decide the specification

When a buyer strips the marketing away, five dimensions tend to decide whether a microcement system is accepted or rejected. Not all of them are answered by the same document.

1. Fire rating

Fire classification belongs to the installed build-up, not to the bagged powder. Substrate, primer, base coats, finish coats and sealer all sit inside the tested assembly, so a class number quoted for the powder alone is not evidence of anything. Where a project requires a Euroclass result such as A1, the classification must be read from the test report that covers the system as it will be built on site, and the report scope must match the specified build-up.

2. VOC profile and indoor air quality

This is the dimension with the clearest documentation in Simon's range. The microcement systems are formaldehyde-free and low in VOC, and hold the EU Grade A+ and China Green Building Material dual certifications. For low VOC microcement enquiries in schools, healthcare interiors or residential refurbishment, those two references plus the safety data sheet for the destination market are the documents to request first.

3. Compressive strength

Compressive strength is what separates a decorative coating from a floor. The Simon super commercial floor series reaches a maximum compressive strength of ≥50 MPa; ordinary cement paint sits in the 5–10 MPa range in the manufacturer's own comparison data. That gap is the reason a high-strength microcement floor can be considered for heavy-duty microcement floor applications where a cement paint finish cannot.

4. Surface hardness and wear resistance

Hardness is not a single number in most microcement data sheets; it shows up as abrasion behaviour, stain resistance and how the surface responds to cleaning. Quartz powder in the formulation and the choice of sealer do most of the work. In practice, a wear resistant microcement floor should be evaluated on three questions: does it resist scratching under normal furniture movement, does it resist staining from oils and food, and can a damaged area be repaired locally without a visible patch.

5. Water resistance

Water behaviour is application-specific. The Simon floor series is formulated to be waterproof, slip-resistant, and resistant to acid, alkali and oil staining, which addresses the water seepage problem common in kitchens and bathrooms. Swimming pool work is a separate case again: MC-7860 adds chlorine and bubble resistance, temperature resistance and anti-slip performance. A waterproof microcement membrane specified for a bathroom is not automatically a pool specification.

How a microcement system is built, step by step

The finished surface is only as good as the sequence behind it. A typical project follows seven stages.

• 1. Define the surface and the load. Wall, floor, ceiling, wet area or pool. Traffic class, cleaning regime and whether underfloor heating is present all change the system choice before a single bag is ordered.
• 2. Check the substrate. Microcement can be applied directly onto ceramic tile, marble and similar existing bases, but the base must be sound, clean and dry. Base surface humidity matters, and application temperature must not be too cold or too hot — both conditions are standard construction risks that are managed through a defined construction plan rather than by adjusting the mix on site.
• 3. Select the formulation. MC-7690 for walls, floors and integrated wall-floor work; MC-7860 for pool interiors; MC-9000 for high-strength commercial flooring. Confirm the variant within the wall-floor system against the surface's exposure.
• 4. Build the coats. The system is applied in thin layers, each cured before the next. Thin-layer application is what allows the coating to follow existing tile joints and produce a seamless microcement system without a levelling screed.
• 5. Seal. The sealer decides stain resistance and cleanability. It should be specified as part of the system, with the recoat interval recorded for the maintenance file.
• 6. Cure and protect. Traffic and water exposure must be held back for the curing period. Pool systems in particular should not be filled until the system has cured as specified.
• 7. Hand over a maintenance plan. Local repair is possible and, in the manufacturer's comparison data, costs around 10% of a full reconstruction — but only if the original colour and texture formulation is recorded at handover.

Where microcement works — and where it needs a different answer

The material is at its strongest where continuity matters and where the substrate is already in place.

• Walls and ceilings in interiors. A microcement wall gives a joint-free mineral surface with a fine, uniform texture — the reason it appears so often in minimalist interior design schemes.
• Floors in homes and light commercial spaces. Seamless microcement flooring removes grout lines entirely, which changes how a small room reads.
• Kitchens and bathrooms. The waterproof, slip-resistant and oil-stain-resistant properties of the floor series are aimed at exactly these rooms.
• Spaces with underfloor heating. The super commercial floor series is specifically adapted to underfloor heating systems and is stable across -40°C to 120°C.
• Commercial microcement floors. Schools, museums, shopping malls and hotels are the stated applications for the high-strength series, where ≥50 MPa compressive strength and wear resistance carry the argument.
• Swimming pools and wet interiors. A dedicated chlorine-resistant formulation with anti-slip finishing.
• Renovation over existing tile or marble. Direct application avoids demolition, reduces construction waste and shortens the programme.

Two boundaries deserve equal honesty. First, exterior microcement is a separate specification question: UV exposure, freeze-thaw cycling and drainage all sit outside a standard interior system, so an exterior application should be confirmed against the manufacturer's written scope rather than assumed from interior performance. Second, chemically aggressive industrial environments and very heavy point loads are usually a flooring-engineering problem rather than a decorative-coating problem, and should be assessed against the actual load case before microcement is proposed.

Microcement compared with common cement paint

Cement paint is the finish most often compared with microcement, because both are mineral-looking and both are applied wet. In construction terms they are different products: microcement is a multi-component polymer composite with application-specific formulations, while ordinary cement paint is a single-component basic cement-based coating intended for simple surface decoration.

Read this table as a statement of where each product is intended to work, not as a claim that one product should replace the other everywhere. Cement paint remains a rational choice for a low-cost temporary surface. The comparison matters when a project needs a seamless finish, wet-area performance or a service life measured in decades.

For context on the installed cost of a comparable floor system, an independent 2026 benchmark places turnkey microcement flooring in Europe — material plus labour — in the range of €95 to €127 per square metre. That figure varies by market, substrate condition and system build-up, but it is a more useful starting point than a material-only price per kilogram.

Frequently asked questions

Bottom line

Microcement is a factory-formulated mineral composite applied in thin layers to create a seamless, traffic-capable surface. Its composition — natural mineral powders, fine mineral fillers, quartz powder, imported cement and water-based resin — is what produces the combination of hardness, water resistance and low emission that buyers are actually paying for. The specification decision then comes down to matching the formulation to the surface: MC-7690 for walls, floors and integrated detailing; MC-7860 for pool interiors; MC-9000 for high-strength commercial floors. Get that match right, and the remaining questions are documents, samples and schedule.

Simon has been manufacturing in this category since 2007, operates a 4,000 m² facility with 5,500 tons of annual output, holds more than 30 patents, and led the compilation of the T/CECS 10192-2022 Polymer Microcement group standard. Products are exported to Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Southeast Asia and used in high-end residential, commercial landmark and cultural tourism projects.

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