Concrete-Look Plaster and Beton Ciré for Walls and Bathroom Walls

Beton ciré is a smooth layer you apply to a wall, with no joints and no tiles. I apply it to walls and bathroom walls. The result is one continuous, sharp surface. Send a photo of the room, then I’ll quickly see whether it fits what you’re after.

What is beton ciré

Beton ciré is a thin layer based on cement and a binder, which you build up in several thin coats into a surface with no joints or seams. Concrete-look plaster and concrete stucco are other names for the same finish: a slightly different name, the same technique, the same result. A wall or bathroom wall gets the look of polished concrete, without actually being concrete. Underneath the layer is simply your existing wall. The concrete look is only in the top layer.

I work in several thin coats. Each layer has to dry before the next can go on, otherwise you get hairline cracks or an uneven finish. After the last layer I polish or rub the surface smooth, and finish it with a protective top coat that holds the colour and gives the surface its smoothness. Croco stuc is a variant with a very fine, breathing crackle pattern within the layer itself. The way it’s applied is the same, only the end result looks slightly different.

Beton ciré in the bathroom

In the bathroom, beton ciré is an alternative to tiles. The walls get a smooth layer, with no joints for dirt or mould to take hold in. You can have all the walls done in one colour and texture, right into the shower corner, with no transition or trim. That also makes a small bathroom feel calmer: there’s no grid of tile joints breaking up the space.

Where tiles give a cool, hard surface, beton ciré feels a bit warmer and looks like one whole surface rather than separate pieces. If you only want the shower wall in beton ciré and the rest of the bathroom in tiles, that’s possible too. I finish the transition between the two neatly, so there’s no weak spot where water can get behind it.

Charelle in Strijen had her bathroom walls plastered before. Reviews on this site are in Dutch, straight from Werkspot, and I’ve left them exactly as clients wrote them:

“Super strak en snel! Voor een volgende klus neem ik zeker weer contact op.” Source: Charelle, Strijen (Werkspot review)

That same speed and that same sharp finish carries over when it’s beton ciré on a bathroom wall, only with a different layer on top.

Waterproof bathroom plastering

Waterproof bathroom plastering is the layer that goes under the tiles or under the beton ciré in a wet room, so no moisture gets through the wall. In an ordinary room I use different materials than in a shower or against a bathtub, because plain plasterwork can come loose over time from constant damp.

That starts with something as simple as a bathroom ceiling. Marcel in Gorinchem had his bathroom ceiling plastered and wrote this about it on Werkspot:

“Na plaatsing zeer snel contact gehad, communicatie was helder, kon zeer snel langskomen voor een kijkje te nemen en kwam direct met heldere en goede antwoorden op mijn vragen. Voorbeeld: het plafond in de badkamer moest bij ons gedaan worden en de stucadoor kwam direct aanzetten met Knauf Aquastuc ipv gewone stucwerk. Puik werk geleverd.” Source: Marcel, Gorinchem (Werkspot review)

For a wall finished with beton ciré, the same principle applies, but then for the whole wall in the wet zone: first a waterproof layer over the entire wet zone, with extra attention to corners and the transition to a window frame or pipe. Only after that does the visible beton ciré layer go on.

Concrete-look plaster wall

Even without a bathroom, you can have a wall finished in concrete-look plaster, for example in a living room, hallway or open-plan kitchen. One wall in beton ciré gives a calm, sharp accent, with no pattern, no texture and none of the sheen of a smooth paint layer. Concrete-look wall and concrete-look plaster are two names for the same thing: a wall in beton ciré, often as an accent wall alongside a few ordinary, smooth walls in the same room.

A living room wall I plastered plain and smooth before got this response on Werkspot:

“Stucwerk muur in de woonkamer: Super strak en mooi. Heel blij mee! Netjes gewerkt en glad achtergelaten. En heel vriendelijk! Aanrader.” Source: Werkspot user from Streefkerk (Werkspot review)

I use that same precision in smoothing a wall for a concrete-look wall too. The difference is in the layer on top: not a paint-ready finish, but the thin, polished beton ciré layer in the colour you choose.

Concrete-look plaster colours

Concrete-look plaster doesn’t only come in grey. The colour sits in the final layer, and I colour that with a pigment you choose beforehand. Think of a cool concrete grey, a warm sand tone, a deeper anthracite, or something close to white. The finish can stay matt or get a light sheen, depending on the protective layer that goes over it.

Want a colour that fits with the rest of the room, think of the floor, the woodwork or the window frames nearby, then send a photo and an idea of the direction you’re after. I mix the top layer to match, so the whole thing works together rather than the wall standing apart on its own.

What determines the cost of beton ciré

What beton ciré costs depends on a few things: the surface area, whether it’s one accent wall or all the walls of a whole bathroom, and how many layers are needed. A bathroom with all its walls in beton ciré is more work than one accent wall in the living room, if only because a waterproof build-up comes with it. The state of the surface matters too: a wall that’s already flat and smooth is quicker to finish than one that needs repairing or plastering first.

I don’t give a price without having seen the room, not even as a per-square-metre estimate, because that rarely matches what I actually find on-site. On plastering cost you can read more about what generally determines the price of plastering work. Send a photo and the size of the room, and I’ll quickly let you know what’s involved.

What surface can beton ciré go on

Beton ciré can go on almost any wall, as long as the surface is flat, dry and firm enough. If there’s loose tilework, an uneven wall or a crack underneath, I deal with that first before the new layer can go on.

A wall that’s already smoothly plastered, see wall plastering, is a fine base to apply beton ciré over. If there’s a crack or a hole in an existing wall, I repair that first. That work falls under plaster repair, and I fold it into the same job when needed.

How I approach the job

1. Send a photo. Send a photo of the wall or bathroom, with an idea of the colour.
2. Assessing the surface. I look at the photos or come and take a look, and tell you whether prep work is needed first, such as a repair or a levelling layer.
3. Price and planning. I give you a price that fits the room and the surface, and we agree a date.
4. Applying it. The layer goes on in several thin coats, with drying time in between. In a bathroom, the waterproof build-up goes on first.
5. Finishing. I polish or rub the last layer smooth and apply the protective top coat.
6. Cleaning up. I leave the room tidy, including the floor and the skirting boards.

Where I apply beton ciré

I work out of Gorinchem and across the wider region around it. Check where I work for the towns I regularly come to, including towards plasterer Utrecht and beyond. For Malka in Culemborg it was different plastering work, but the response says enough about how I go about a job:

“Hele goede en vakkundige stucadoor. Werkt zo netjes en zorgvuldig. Is ontzettend rustig en bescheiden en vriendelijk. Meteen gevraagd voor de volgende klus. Ik beveel hem van harte aan.” Source: Malka, Culemborg (Werkspot review)

Take a look at all my reviews on Werkspot for more examples of how I work. The rest of my work is on the services overview.

Not sure whether beton ciré suits your wall or bathroom? Send a photo, and I’ll think it through with you.