Design Concrete & Screeding in Saadiyat Island

Each finish is built differently. Click through to see the spec, the look and where we'd use it.

Send us a mood-board image — we'll mock up a sample tile on a 30 × 30 cm board before site mobilisation.

1. 01

   Site survey

   Substrate assessment, drainage check, drawing cross-check.

   ½ day

2. 02

   SL screed if needed

   Mapei Topcem / Ultraplan to bring substrate to spec.

   1–2 days

3. 03

   Design layer pour

   Mapei Ultratop self-levelling, or designed in-situ slab.

   1–2 days

4. 04

   Imprint / colour-harden

   Stamps applied while wet; colour-hardener trowelled in.

   Same-day

5. 05

   Curing window

   Wet-cure under fleece — slows shrinkage cracking.

   7 days

6. 06

   Grind / hone progression

   Diamond pads through the polished-concrete grit ladder.

   2–3 days

7. 07

   Densifier

   Lithium silicate densifier hardens the surface.

   Apply · 24 hr cure

8. 08

   UV-stable PU sealer × 2

   Two thin coats. Full cure 7 days.

   2 days

• Retail floors
• Showrooms
• Gallery spaces
• Hospitality lobbies
• F&B spaces
• Driveways
• Landscape paving
• Pool surrounds
• Patios
• Industrial-aesthetic office

• Polished concrete vs microtopping — what's the difference?

  Polished concrete grinds and polishes the existing structural slab (or a new pour) — you're seeing the actual concrete. Microtopping is a 3 mm overlay applied on top of a substrate (which could be tile, screed, or anything else) — it's a finish, not the slab. Different spec, different look, different cost.

• Can you polish my existing slab?

  Yes if the slab is sound. We core-sample to check density and aggregate distribution, and only proceed if the slab will polish predictably. Older slabs with surface laitance need an Ultratop SL topping coat first.

• Does it crack?

  Hairline shrinkage cracks happen on any concrete pour. We control them with steel mesh reinforcement, day-joint planning and wet-curing under fleece. Structural cracks are different — those come from substrate movement and need engineering input first.

• How does it handle UV?

  We seal with UV-stable PU sealer (not generic acrylic). Indoor polished concrete is unaffected by UV. Outdoor decorative concrete (driveways, patios) needs the UV-stable sealer reapplied every 3–5 years.

• Slip rating of polished concrete?

  R9 polished, R10 honed (lower-grit endpoint). For wet zones we honed-finish at 400 grit instead of polishing to 3000. Anti-slip additive can be added to the topcoat without dulling the polish too much.

• Maintenance — what's involved?

  Routine: pH-neutral cleaner, microfibre mop. Periodic: re-coat the sealer every 3–5 years. We do this as a maintenance visit — no need to re-grind unless the floor has been heavily abused.

• Colours — how customisable?

  Polished concrete is grey-on-grey (the natural slab colour with the aggregate revealed). Coloured polished concrete uses pigmented Ultratop SL — we can mix to a sample. Stamped concrete uses colour-hardener — a wide palette of earth tones, terracotta, slate, sand.

• Cost per square metre?

  Indicative ranges only — quoted after survey. Polish existing slab: AED 180–280 / m². Polished Ultratop SL topping: AED 320–480 / m². Stamped concrete: AED 280–420 / m². Exposed aggregate: AED 220–360 / m². Add for difficult access, mock-ups, and bespoke colour matching.

• Microtopping

  When a 3 mm overlay is the right answer instead of polishing the slab.

• Self-Levelling & Screed

  The substrate prep that decorative concrete relies on.

• Polishing — Marble & Floors

  The same diamond-pad discipline applied to natural stone.