I have an apartment with old tile flooring in the living room and kitchen that's pretty worn out. I've seen microcemento look really nice in my friends' places, but I have no idea what the full job costs. Can someone tell me roughly what kind of budget I should be expecting?
It depends a lot on where you live and the condition of the floor, but generally microcement runs between 40 to 80 euros per square meter if you add labor and materials, so for a normal-sized living room and kitchen we're talking about around 2000 to 5000 euros more or less. Best thing is to get quotes from several contractors in your area, because there's quite a bit of variation depending on the experience of whoever does it and whether any prep work needs to be done on the base.
It depends a lot on where you live and the current condition of your floor, but normally microcement runs between 40 and 80 euros per square meter including labor, so if your living room and kitchen are around 40 or 50 square meters, you'd be looking at something like 2000 to 4000 euros total budget. Best thing is to get three or four quotes from local companies because there's a huge difference between them, and also some will offer to remove the old tiles included in the price while others charge you separately for it.
What nobody tells you is that before you put in microcement, you have to prep the base properly, and if your tiles are lifting or the floor has uneven spots, that gets expensive. The material itself isn't the priciest part - it's leveling everything out, removing the old tiles, and getting a perfect surface so the microcement sticks right; that can easily add another €500 - 1,000 to your final bill. Then yeah, the microcement itself runs you around €40 - 80 per square meter like they mention, but altogether it depends a ton on whether you need to tear down walls, deal with moisture, or fix structural damage you can't see at first glance.
How many square meters do you have in total? The ranges mentioned above are fine, but what they don't say is that if the tiles are stuck with old adhesive or there's moisture under the floor, prep work can cost almost as much as the microcement itself. I've seen quotes double because they had to chip everything out, dry the base, and level it before applying anything. Always ask separately how much is just materials, how much is prep work, and how much is the final application.
The real budget comes down to floor prep: if you remove the tiles yourself before calling the contractor, you'll cut the final bill quite a bit. I've seen friends spend almost double because they didn't do that and let the worker handle everything, when it was time they could've invested themselves without any prior experience.
Besides what they mention about the base condition, make sure you check whether you need to level it - that'll add way more cost than the microcement itself. Get quotes from at least three contractors with photos of your current floor, because prices vary a lot depending on your area and how complicated the prep work turns out to be.
I've seen this renovation done in friends' homes and the price shoots up if the tiles are stuck down with old cement, which requires brutal chipping before applying the microcement. On top of those 40-80 euros per square meter they mention, keep in mind that if the job involves removing old adhesive or leveling uneven spots, you can easily add another 20-30% extra in labor costs, so get several quotes where they clearly specify the base preparation.
The factor that's going to surprise you most in the quote is the demolition and prep work, not the microcement itself - that can end up costing almost as much as the material if your tiles are well-adhered or you've got moisture problems underneath. The numbers mentioned above (40-80 euros per square meter) are realistic for normal urban areas, but if you need to remove the tiles, level the floor, and seal cracks, you'll easily go over 100+ euros per square meter depending on how complicated everything is. My advice is that before you ask for quotes, tell the professional exactly what condition those tiles are in and whether you've noticed any moisture stains, because that changes the whole job and the price.
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