Guide · East Sussex · BN3
Hove Microcement wet rooms: what actually goes on the wall
For Hove refurb clients, microcement wet rooms sits at the intersection of two things they've usually already tried: the tile-and-grout route (grout-line fatigue) and full-slab stone (cost). microcement wet rooms solves both — one continuous mineral surface at roughly a third of the stone-and-fixings price. The Hove catchment we work across covers BN3 — reached via the A259 Kingsway, 3 min from our workshop along the a259 seafront. Nearby coverage includes Brighton (2 mi), Portslade (2 mi), Shoreham-by-Sea (5 mi). Site conditions matter here: salt-laden onshore wind — sealer specification matters. That shapes the primer and sealer specification below, not just the visible finish.
Build programme, day by day
- Strip out and screed checkDay 1–2
Existing tile / vinyl removed to solid substrate, cracks resin-injected, screed skimmed flat to SR2.
- Tank and waterproofDay 3
2 coats cementitious tanking on floor and walls to 1800 mm; corners, pipe collars and drain reinforced.
- Base coat and meshDay 4
Fibreglass mesh embedded in reinforced base coat over the full wet-room envelope.
- Colour coatsDay 5–6
Two 1 mm microcement colour coats, hand-trowelled.
- SealerDay 7
3 coats polyurethane wet-room sealer with 4-hour inter-coat time.
The spec sheet
Working in Hove
Substrate and preparation
The wet room build-up sits over a fully-tanked substrate — cementitious waterproofing membrane, tape-and-bond internal corners, floor laid to 1:80 fall toward a linear drain. Microcement bonds mechanically to the tanking with a fibreglass-reinforced base coat, not adhesion promoter alone.
How to make it read as designed, not applied
Continuous floor-to-wall microcement in one colour reads as sculpture. A tonal contrast (deeper floor, paler wall) reads as designed. Recess the linear drain to the far wall, not the entry threshold — visually cleaner and drains faster.
Common install-time pitfalls
- ✕Skimping on tanking — cheap 1-coat systems fail behind the finish.
- ✕Missing pipe-collar reinforcement — the single most common leak point.
- ✕Overworking the trowel — hairline cracks appear at cure.
- ✕Wrong sealer — domestic-grade sealer will not survive daily shower.
- ✕Insufficient fall — puddles at the low corner within a year.
wet rooms in Hove — Q&A
Other guides for Hove
Microcement wet rooms — other Sussex towns
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The short version
Hove wet rooms in one line: mineral finish, single continuous surface, hand-applied by our own team, £4,200–£8,500 per installation, 6–10 working days on site. Free survey with a written spec back inside 3 working days.