Microcement Installation in Dubai: What Happens, Day by Day

Microcement installation is a hand-applied, four-coat process that takes four to seven days for a typical room in Dubai — and most of that time is curing, not work. The crew checks and prepares the surface, primes it, waterproofs wet zones, lays two reinforced base coats and two coloured finish coats by steel trowel, then seals it. Each layer must cure before the next goes on, so the room stays out of use for the whole period. The finished surface is only 2–3 mm thick, which is why it usually goes straight over sound existing tiles with no demolition. This guide is for the person having it done: what happens on each day, how long it really takes to dry, what you need to arrange, and where installations go wrong.

Doing it yourself is a different question, answered in can you DIY microcement?; the technical build-up sits on our microcement technology page. This page is the homeowner’s view: the calendar, the preparation and the questions to ask.

How is microcement installed? The steps in order

Every professional microcement installation follows the same sequence, whatever the product is called — microcement, micro cement, microtopping or micro concrete are the same coating under different names (see what is microtopping?).

1. Site check. The substrate is tested before anything is quoted: tiles are tapped for hollow spots, cracks are read as dormant or live, movement joints are found, and the base is checked for damp and flatness. A new screed needs its full cure before it is coated — rushing this is the most common cause of early cracking.
2. Preparation. Loose tiles are re-fixed or removed, glazed tiles are ground so the primer can grip, grout lines are filled flush, and cracks are treated. Microcement is not a levelling compound: a badly out-of-flat floor is levelled first (our guide to levelling an uneven floor explains the options).
3. Primer, matched to the base — tile, screed, concrete, plasterboard or blockwork each want the right one.
4. Tanking in wet zones. In showers and bathrooms a waterproofing membrane goes on before any cement. The microcement is the finish; the membrane and the sealer keep the water out.
5. Two base coats. A coarser, stronger mix, with reinforcing mesh embedded in the first coat wherever the base could move. Each coat cures and is sanded before the next.
6. Two finish coats. The coloured microcement, pressed and dragged by hand with a steel trowel. This is where the cloudy, mineral movement is made, and where the applicator’s skill shows.
7. Sealing. Two or more coats of sealer — a wear grade on dry floors and walls, an immersion grade in showers and pools — cured before the room is used.

How long does microcement installation take?

A typical room takes four to seven days from preparation to a sealed, usable surface. A small powder room sits at the short end; a bathroom with a walk-in shower, or a large open-plan floor, sits at the long end. The crew is not on your floor for seven full days of trowelling: much of the time the room is simply curing between coats, and the calendar is set by chemistry, not by effort.

Stage	What happens	Can you use the room?
Day 1	Site preparation: tiles checked and fixed, glaze ground, grout lines filled, cracks treated, primer	No
Wet zones only	Waterproofing membrane applied and left to cure	No
Base coats	Two reinforced base coats, each cured and sanded	No
Finish coats	Two coloured coats by steel trowel — the look is made here	No
Sealing	Two or more sealer coats, then the sealer’s own cure	No
Handover	The crew tells you when light use and full use can start	Yes, on the crew’s date

The table shows order, not a fixed day per stage: cure speed depends on the product and the room’s heat and humidity. An installer promising a finished microcement bathroom in two days is skipping cure time or coats — both show up later as cracks or a cloudy sealer.

How long does microcement take to dry?

Each coat of microcement must dry and cure before the next goes on, and the sealer needs its own cure before the surface takes water or furniture — which is why the whole room is out of use for about a week. “Dry to the touch” is not the same as “ready”: a coat can feel dry and still be too soft to sand, and a sealer can look finished and still be curing underneath. The safe rule for a homeowner is simple: use the room only when the crew says so, and put rugs, furniture and shower water back only on their date.

In UAE heat a coat’s working window on the trowel is measured in minutes, and a sealer applied over a coat that has not fully cured is the most common cause of clouding and peeling — so a good crew schedules the job around the room, not around a promised date.

Can microcement be installed over existing tiles?

Yes — over sound, well-bonded tiles, on floors, walls and in bathrooms, and it is the main reason people choose it for a renovation. It saves the demolition, the rubble, the days of noise and the dust through the home, and because the build-up is only about 3 mm, doors still close and sanitaryware usually stays where it is. Hollow or cracked tiles are fixed or removed first; grout lines are filled and bridged with mesh so they never ghost through. The checks that decide it are in can you microcement over tiles?

Which one should you choose: over the tiles, or strip back first?

	Over existing tiles	Strip back to the base
When it fits	Tiles are sound and well bonded; floor level is acceptable	Tiles are hollow, cracked or lifting; floor badly out of level; damp or movement under the tiles
Disruption	No demolition, no rubble, little noise	Demolition, rubble removal, a new screed that must fully cure
Height added	About 3 mm — doors and thresholds usually unchanged	Depends on the new screed
Time	Four to seven days a room	Longer: the screed cure comes first
Risk if done wrong	Tile joints ghosting through; cracks over hollow tiles	Cracking if the new screed is coated too early

The honest answer: go over the tiles wherever they are a stable base, and strip back only where they are not. Many bathrooms end up a mix — sound wall tiles coated directly, a few hollow floor tiles replaced first. A site visit settles it, and if the base is wrong for microcement, we say so.

What do you need to prepare before microcement installation?

• Clear the room. Furniture, rugs and anything on the walls. If the quote says so, skirtings and sanitaryware come off.
• Plan to be without the room for about a week. If it is your only bathroom, arrange a second one before work starts.
• In an apartment, get the building’s approval first. Management approval, permitted working hours, the service lift and protection of common areas are part of the plan, not afterthoughts. The differences between apartments and villas are covered in microcement in apartments vs villas.
• Decide the colour on a sample, in your own light. Microcement colour moves with light and trowel; see a sample board in the room before the finish coats, not a phone screen (more in microcement colours).
• Say where water goes. Showers, kitchen splashbacks and wet floors need the wet-zone build-up — membrane plus immersion-grade sealer — and the quote should show it.

Where microcement installations go wrong

Most microcement failures are installation failures, and they come from a short list:

• The base was not checked. Hollow tiles or a live crack under a 3 mm coating will show through — the coating reports what the base does. Our guide on does microcement crack? covers the causes.
• Cure time was cut. A new screed coated too early, or a sealer laid over a coat that was still curing.
• No mesh, no primer matched to the base. The cheapest quotes often skip exactly these.
• Wrong sealer in a wet zone. A dry-area sealer in a shower is the most common route to clouding and water damage.
• Wrong place. Microcement is for homes and normal-use rooms. It is not for heavy-use floors — busy commercial floors, trolleys, garages or workshops — where an epoxy or another industrial floor is the honest choice (microcement vs epoxy). Outdoors it works only in the outdoor-rated colours, on terraces, balconies and outside walls with normal foot traffic — never driveways.

If one quote is dramatically cheaper than the others, ask which of these steps it leaves out. The questions worth asking any applicator are in how to choose a microcement contractor.

What does microcement installation cost in Dubai?

Our microcement is priced supplied and installed: walls and feature surfaces start from AED 220/m², floors start from AED 250/m², and full wet zones (bathrooms, showers, pools) start from AED 350/m². That covers the system from primer to sealer, including mesh where it is needed and the membrane and immersion-grade sealer in wet zones. Repairs to the base — levelling a badly out-of-flat floor, replacing hollow tiles, removing sanitaryware — are priced after the site visit so nothing surprises you on the invoice. The full breakdown of what moves the number is in the microcement cost guide.

After installation: the first weeks and the long run

Once the room is handed back, treat the sealer gently for the first period the crew names: no harsh cleaners, no dragging furniture. After that, care is simple — a damp mop with a pH-neutral cleaner, and the sealer renewed every few years in busy rooms. The coating itself lasts decades when the base and the sealer were right; see how long does microcement last and how to clean a microcement floor.

RBS installs microcement across the UAE with crews trained in-house, never subcontracted — floors and walls through our micro cement service in Dubai, showers and wet rooms through the microcement bathroom service, and projects in the capital through microcement in Abu Dhabi. Send a photo of the floor or bathroom and rough dimensions on WhatsApp, or call +971 4 587 7086 — we will tell you plainly whether it can go over what is there, how many days the room will be closed, and what the full system costs. 8+ years in the UAE.

Related guides

• Can You DIY Microcement? The Honest Answer for the UAE
• Can You Microcement Over Tiles? Yes, If They Are Sound
• How to Choose a Microcement Contractor in the UAE
• Microcement Cost in the UAE (2026)
• Does Microcement Crack? Why Cracks Appear, How to Prevent Them

FAQ

How long does microcement installation take?

Four to seven days for a typical room, from preparation to a sealed surface. Most of that is curing between coats, not trowelling — a small powder room is at the short end, a bathroom with a walk-in shower or a large floor at the long end.

How long does microcement take to dry before you can walk on it?

Each coat must cure before the next, and the sealer needs its own cure before the floor is used. The crew gives you the date for light use and for full use; until then, keep the room closed. Walking on it early is how sealers get marked and clouded.

Can I shower on a new microcement bathroom straight away?

No. A shower waits for the membrane, the coats and the immersion-grade sealer to cure fully — which is why a bathroom is usually out of use for about a week. If it is your only bathroom, plan a second one before work starts.

Does microcement installation make a lot of dust and noise?

Much less than a tile rip-out. Going over sound tiles avoids demolition and rubble entirely; the noisy, dusty part is limited to grinding the tile glaze and sanding between coats. In an apartment, check the building’s working hours before the dates are set.

Do you need to remove tiles before installing microcement?

Only the ones that are hollow, cracked or lifting. Sound, well-bonded tiles are ground, their joints filled and bridged with mesh, and coated directly — no demolition. See can you microcement over tiles?

How thick is a microcement installation?

About 2–3 mm across four coats — two base coats and two finish coats — plus the sealer. It adds almost no height, so doors and thresholds usually stay as they are; it does not level an uneven floor, which is done first if needed.

Who installs microcement in Dubai?

Choose an applicator who checks the base before quoting and shows the full build-up. RBS installs microcement with crews trained in-house; send a photo on WhatsApp for a straight answer.