Microcement colours and finishes

The same microcement shade changes with the sealer, the grain of the finish, the light from each window and the area it covers, so it is not chosen from a printed chart. Above, you will find the six families we usually start from. The layers and sealing are explained on the main microcement page.

How microcement colour is made

Microcement is not painted: the colour is inside the mortar. A mineral pigment is added to the base of white or grey cement, resins and fine aggregates, and mixed into every batch until the colour is even. It goes into the two finish coats, the ones left on view, and because it runs through their full thickness, a scuff in the sealer does not reveal a different colour underneath.

The hard part is repeating the shade in every batch. That is why the pigment is weighed, not added by eye, and the dose is fixed for the whole surface before starting. Each coat on a floor or wall is applied in one go, without stopping halfway, so there are no jumps in shade.

Why the colour is chosen from a sample in your home

The sealer deepens the colour, like water on a stone, and gloss saturates it more than matt. Light does the rest: a north-facing window cools greys, evening sun on a west-facing house warms sands and a warm bulb turns off-white yellowish. And a small sample looks darker than the same colour across a whole living room.

So we prepare samples with the planned pigment, grain and sealer, and they are viewed where the microcement will go, by day and at night. Any colour can be mixed to match a stone, a fabric or a photo, but approval is always given on the sealed sample.

Microcement colours: six families for Mallorca homes

The six families shown at the top of the page are a starting point: each has a range of shades, and any colour can be mixed to order.

• Off-white. Bathrooms, kitchens and bright interiors; it makes small rooms feel larger. A pure white microcement is also possible, but it shows every footprint or stain, and next to large south-facing windows it needs a sealer that does not yellow.
• Sand. The warm tone that goes with marès, the island's soft sandstone, with timber beams and with the lime-washed walls of village houses and fincas. Sand microcement works indoors and out, and around a pool it stays relatively cool.
• Pearl grey. A light, neutral grey for modern apartments in Palma with aluminium windows and white walls: the look of cement without darkening the room.
• Cement grey. The mid grey most people associate with microcement. It suits kitchens, clean-lined living rooms and stairs.
• Taupe. A brownish grey, between sand and grey. It goes with wood and stone and hides dust very well.
• Anthracite. For contrast on a wall panel, a vanity unit, a kitchen island or a staircase. It gets very hot in the sun, and it is the colour that shows dust and limescale most.

Light or dark: what shows in daily life

In Mallorca the dust is pale limestone and the water is hard, and both show on dark tones. Scratches in the sealer look whitish, so they also stand out on dark colours and on gloss. Light tones hide the dust but show coffee, wine and soil brought in from outside.

How to remove limescale without damaging the sealer is covered in the guide to cleaning and maintaining microcement.

Finishes: matt, satin or gloss

The sheen comes from the polyurethane sealer, not from the microcement, and it is chosen separately from the colour.

• Matt. The most mineral look. It hides scratches, marks and slight undulations in the surface, and it is the usual choice on floors and outdoors.
• Satin. A soft sheen that lifts the colour a little and is slightly easier to clean. The middle ground for bathrooms, kitchens and walls.
• Gloss. It saturates the colour and brings out the cloudy effect, but it reflects every scratch, every footprint and every irregularity, and it is slippery when wet. We do not use it on outdoor floors or in showers.

Smooth or textured, even or cloudy

A smooth finish, with a very fine grain, is the usual choice for walls, built-in furniture, worktops and bathrooms. A textured one, with the grain on view, gives more grip and hides wear on busy floors and outdoors, where it also gets anti-slip aggregate in the sealer.

The cloudy effect is the drifts of tone that the trowel leaves in the final coat. You can ask for it calm, almost even, or pronounced, but never flat like paint: the hand of the applicator, the absorbency of the substrate and the humidity on the day leave a pattern of their own. That is why no two floors are identical, and why the sample shows the character of the finish, not an exact copy.

Colour outdoors and in the sun

Mineral pigments stand up to the sun; what yellows is the wrong sealer, which is why outdoors we always use an aliphatic polyurethane with a UV filter. Even so, colours lighten slightly over the years, intense ones more than greys and sands. When the sealer wears, the shade looks dull; after resealing, it comes back. And heat matters: anthracite on a south-facing terrace burns bare feet in August. We go into detail on the page on outdoor microcement and pools.

Floor, walls and worktop: matching or combining colours

The same colour on floor and walls gives continuity, although a wall catches the light from the side and usually looks a shade lighter. In kitchens the worktop can match the floor or go a tone darker to hide wear; we cover this on microcement walls and kitchens.

Two colours combine well when the change coincides with a change of plane: floor and wall, tread and riser, built-in unit and wall. On the same plane they are separated by a masked straight line or a profile. Each colour adds masking and drying time, which is why it is one of the things that move the microcement cost. The floor system itself is on microcement floors.

Microcement colours for bathrooms

Limescale leaves a white film that shows clearly on anthracite and cement grey, especially in the shower. Off-white, sand, pearl grey or taupe make a small bathroom feel larger and hide limescale and soap; a dark tone looks better on the basin wall or a built-in unit than inside the shower. The shower tray gets anti-slip aggregate and a matt or satin finish, and the silicone at the junctions is chosen in the colour of the microcement. The waterproofing and the rest of the system are on microcement bathrooms.