Overlay Your Worn Slab with Micro-Topping in Detroit
Patched, scratched, or simply too rough to finish. A micro-topping is a thin polymer layer that bonds to your existing slab and creates a fresh, smooth surface ready for any top coat. Detroit Concrete handles the prep, application in thin passes, and curing so your floor is ready for polish, stain, or sealer within days.
Not every damaged slab needs to come out. If the concrete is structurally sound but cosmetically compromised, patches in the wrong spots, surface wear, inconsistent finish, a micro-topping gives you a new floor without the cost and disruption of a tear-out.
The topping is a thin, polymer-modified layer trowelled onto a prepped substrate in multiple passes. Each lift bonds tightly, building a smooth, seamless surface that takes polished concrete beautifully, or pairs with stained finishes for colour and depth.
The line is clear: if the slab has structural issues, heaving, active cracks, or base failure, it needs replacement. A micro-topping addresses surface problems only. We walk the slab, assess the substrate, and tell you which path makes sense.
Recent work
Installation sequence
The Micro-Topping Application Process in Detroit
Inspect and plan the substrate
We examine the slab for structural soundness, identify any cracks or repairs needed, test for moisture, and confirm what finish will sit on top of the topping.
Mechanically profile and prime
The slab surface is ground to open the pores and create mechanical bond, repaired where necessary, then primed with the system-specific primer.
Trowel topping in thin lifts
The polymer-modified topping is applied in thin, controlled passes, each one bonding fully to the substrate and the layer below, building to final thickness.
Burnish, finish and cure
The surface is burnished to the desired sheen, sealed or prepared for polish or stain, then cured to schedule before foot traffic or the final finish.
Finishing options
Top Coats That Work Over Micro-Topping Overlays
The topping itself is not the finished floor. It is the base. Most homeowners choose polished concrete over the topping for a hard, reflective, low-maintenance surface that shows off the slab.
Others prefer acid or water-based stain for warm, layered colour, sealed for protection. Some want a simple clear sealer for a satin, natural look. The topping accepts all of them. It also works seamlessly with radiant floor heating systems, with the underlayment installed first, then the topping, then the finish.
Thickness, when it works, what finishes pair with it, and what it cannot fix.
A few millimetres total, applied in lifts. It is not a full overlay; it is a thin resurfacing that bonds to the substrate and gives the next finish a clean canvas.
When the slab has structural problems, heaving, deep cracks that move, base failure. The topping fixes a cosmetic-grade slab problem, not a structural one. We assess the slab and tell you straight which side of the line it is on.
Any of the interior finishes we install, polish, stain, or a clear sealer. The topping is engineered to take them all.
Done properly, no. The lifts blend together and the burnish produces a uniform surface. We pre-test on a sample area for tricky finishes to confirm the look before doing the whole floor.
Yes. Heated floor underlayment goes down first to encase the radiant heat tubing, then the micro-topping over it, then the finish above. The whole stack works as one heated floor system.
Old basement slab was patched and ugly. They micro-topped it then polished, and now it reads as a brand-new floor without the tear-out and mess of a replacement.
H. B.
Detroit
★★★★★
Saved us a slab replacement on the main floor. Micro-topping plus stain plus seal gave us exactly the look we wanted, and the existing slab is hidden underneath.
M. L.
Warren
★★★★★
Knew the answer when they walked in, micro-topping was the move because of how patched our slab was. Done in less than a week and the new floor looks seamless.
P. O.
Sterling Heights
★★★★★
Combined with heated floor underlayment underneath. The radiant heat warms the topping evenly and the finished floor is exactly the same look top to bottom.
U. E.
Ann Arbor
From the blog
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Practical reading on planning, finishes and caring for concrete in Detroit.
Tell us about the room, the slab condition, and the finish you want on top. We will assess the substrate, design the topping system, and send a written quote within one business day.
