Guide
Microcement or epoxy flooring? How to choose
Both give you a seamless floor with no grout lines, and in Indonesia both are often called "epoxy lantai". They are different materials, made for different jobs. This guide explains what each one is and where each one is the better choice. To be clear from the start: Terraesta does not sell epoxy. We make microcement, so read the section on where epoxy wins knowing that. We wrote it to be accurate, not to win you over.
What epoxy flooring is
Epoxy flooring is a resin system. Two liquids, a resin and a hardener, are mixed on site and react into a hard plastic layer. It is rolled on as a thin coating or poured as a thicker self-levelling layer, almost always over concrete. The result is uniform, usually glossy, and very resistant to chemicals and abrasion, which is why it is the standard floor in factories, warehouses and laboratories.
What microcement is
Microcement is a decorative surface built up by hand in thin layers. Microcement Extreme is an acrylic-based microcement with fine mineral fillers, applied in two coats with a steel trowel or a roller, 1–2 mm thick in total. Because it is worked by hand, the surface keeps the soft movement of the trowel and subtle variation in colour: the look of exposed concrete, without the joints. The same material continues from the floor onto walls, stairs and built-in furniture, so a room can read as one surface.
A microcement floor is a system rather than a single tin: Surface Primer first, Fibermesh embedded in the base coat on floors and large areas, two coats of microcement, and a top coat to protect it — Topcoat or Ultran Super Enamel.
Side by side
| Epoxy flooring | Microcement | |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Uniform and usually glossy: a smooth resin finish | Worked by hand, with soft variation; matte or satin, depending on the top coat |
| Thickness | From a thin rolled coating to several millimetres when poured self-levelling | 1–2 mm for two coats |
| Suitable substrates | Mainly concrete, which is normally ground or shot-blasted first and must be dry | Concrete, sound and well-bonded tiles, and well-prepared existing floors; walls as well as floors |
| UV and yellowing | Standard epoxy yellows and turns chalky in sunlight; indoors, away from windows, this matters less | Sealed with a top coat, so sunlight comes down to that top coat. Ultran Super Enamel, a polyurethane, is for interior and exterior use; Microcement Aqua is UV-stable |
| Wet areas | Waterproof as a coating; a smooth gloss finish is slippery when wet unless an anti-slip aggregate is added | Bathrooms and other wet areas with the correct top coat (Microcement Extreme); pools and permanently submerged areas need Microcement Aqua |
| Repairs | Patches usually show; worn floors are generally recoated area by area | Patches can show too, because every area is finished by hand |
| How it is applied | Resin and hardener mixed on site, then rolled or poured within a limited working time, over ground concrete | Primer, Fibermesh, two thin coats by trowel or roller, then a top coat, with drying time between layers |
| Typical uses | Factories, warehouses, workshops, laboratories, car parks | Homes, villas, bathrooms, kitchens, cafés and shops, stairs and walls |
When epoxy is the better choice
Choose epoxy — and an epoxy supplier, because we do not sell it — when the floor has to cope with:
- Heavy industrial traffic. Forklifts, pallet trucks, steel wheels and dragged loads in warehouses and factories.
- Chemical exposure. Oils, solvents, acids or cleaning chemicals spilled regularly, as in workshops, laboratories and food production.
- A purely functional brief, where a uniform industrial floor that can be hosed down matters more than how it looks.
We do not recommend microcement for floors like these, and we would rather say so now than have you find out later.
When microcement is the better choice
- Homes and villas, where the floor should have a velvety, continuous finish and look worked by hand rather than like a factory floor.
- Bathrooms and showers, with the correct top coat — and pools or submerged areas with Microcement Aqua.
- Cafés, restaurants and shops. Microcement Extreme is made for high-wear retail and hospitality areas.
- Over existing tiles, when you want a new floor without breaking out the old one. See Replace your floor without demolition.
- Floors that continue up the walls, the stairs or a built-in counter, in the same material and colour.
- Floors in daylight, near large windows, where yellowing epoxy would show. See PU floor coating.
Five questions to decide
| Ask yourself | Points to |
|---|---|
| Will forklifts, steel wheels or chemicals be on this floor? | Epoxy |
| Is it a home, a villa, a bathroom, a café or a shop? | Microcement |
| Are there existing tiles you would rather not break out? | Microcement, if the tiles are sound |
| Does sunlight reach the floor? | Standard epoxy will yellow. See PU floor coating |
| Will it be permanently under water? | Microcement Aqua. Microcement Extreme is not for submerged areas |
What Terraesta supplies
Terraesta makes and sells the materials for a microcement floor, shipped from Bali to all of Indonesia: Surface Primer, Fibermesh, Microcement Extreme in 18 standard colours and Microcement Aqua in nine, and two top coats — Topcoat, a water-based satin finish, and Ultran Super Enamel, a two-component polyurethane with a matte finish. We do not sell epoxy. Prices are on each product page, and the product calculator works out how much you need for your area.
