Concrete-Look Walls in Toronto & the GTA
The grey, panelled face of cast concrete without pouring any: microcement on feature walls, fireplaces and bathrooms, and smooth stucco with planned reveals on the outside of modern houses.
Two materials give a wall the concrete look
Microcement
Feature walls, fireplaces, bathrooms, sheltered spots outside
A polymer-modified cement coat trowelled on 2 to 3 mm thick, straight over drywall, plaster, sound tile or concrete. You get the grey, slightly clouded face of cast concrete with no joints, and nothing gets torn out first.
It is the right pick for a living-room wall, a fireplace surround or a shower. Outside, we put it only where a roof or an overhang keeps the weather off, and seal it with a UV-stable sealer. More on the system is on our microcement finish page.
Smooth stucco with reveal lines
Whole facades of modern houses, storefronts
For a full exterior, the concrete look comes from a smooth stucco finish trowelled over a base coat that is screeded flat, in a grey you pick from samples, cut into panels by planned reveal lines. Over foam, the same face goes on as EIFS.
This is the system built for a GTA wall that takes rain, sun and freeze-thaw on every side of the house.
The thin coat follows the wall it sits on, so it suits a sound, stable surface indoors. The thicker build-up is what lets a whole house face be made flat and kept dry.
Which one goes on your surface
Find the surface you have in mind. The tag says what we put on it.
- Microcement
A living-room or bedroom wall
Behind a bed, a TV or a dining table. Goes over painted drywall once the paint and any loose spots are dealt with.
- Microcement
A fireplace surround
Wraps the box and the hearth in one material with no edge showing, without the weight of real concrete.
- Microcement
A shower or bathroom wall
Goes on as the finish over a waterproofed wall, with a sealer picked for water and cleaners.
- Microcement
A covered porch wall or soffit
Outside, but under a roof. Sealed with a UV-stable exterior sealer.
- Smooth stucco or EIFS
The whole front of a modern house
Flat boxes, big windows, a grey or charcoal face split into panels. A screeded base and planned reveals carry the look.
- Smooth stucco or EIFS
A storefront or small plaza
A flat facade around glazing. Our commercial stucco page covers which part of the building code applies.
Grey, flat and panelled: walls we finished
The reveal grid is what makes stucco read as concrete
Real concrete walls are cast in panels, and the joints between the panels are what your eye takes as "concrete". A plain grey wall with no lines looks like grey paint.
So on a concrete-look facade we lay the reveal lines out on paper first. They line up with the window heads and sills, the floor lines and the corners, and they sit where the wall needs a movement joint anyway. A line that lands in the middle of nowhere looks like a mistake.
On a custom house this layout is part of the architectural finish, together with the flat base and the sample panels. Our custom home stucco page shows how those jobs are run with the builder.
Horizontal lines follow the window heads and the floor line. Vertical lines follow the window jambs, so no panel ends halfway across a window.
What the concrete look costs
These are the figures this site already publishes. The stucco cost calculator uses the same ones.
A long modern elevation with a dense reveal grid and a dark grey lands nearer the architectural figure. A feature wall inside is quoted after we see it. Either way the visit is free and you get one fixed price in writing.
What you sign off, and when
The look is settled by a few approvals, in this order. Nothing goes on the real wall before the first two.
The sample
A board or a panel on the wall in the grey and texture you picked. Concrete greys change a lot between shade and sun.
The daylight check
You look at it in the morning and late in the day. Charcoal over foam is also checked against the maker's minimum light reflectance before we order.
One area, one go
Colour is ordered for a whole elevation. On microcement, one person trowels a whole area, because hand texture cannot be matched between two people.
The sheen
On microcement you choose matte, satin or gloss at the sealer stage. Matte reads most like raw concrete.
The cure
A feature wall or bathroom takes 3 to 5 working days with cure time. Outside, base and finish need about 5°C or more, so April to November.
Text Musa a photo of the wall or the house front and say which look you are after. The line is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, and he usually calls back within a day. We cover Halton, Peel, Toronto and York Region.
Concrete-look wall questions
Can you make a wall look like concrete without pouring concrete?
Can microcement go on the outside of my house?
What do concrete-look exterior walls cost?
How long does a microcement feature wall take?
Can I get a charcoal concrete look over foam insulation?
Ready to upgrade your exterior?
Tell us about your project and get a free, fixed written quote. Oakville-based, serving the whole GTA. Open 24 hours.