Poured and polished concrete is a structural or topping slab — sand, aggregate, cement, and water, ground and sealed after curing. It is thick, heavy, and typically only practical during new construction or a major renovation because of its weight and cure time.
Microcement is a thin cementitious coating (often only a few millimetres) applied over an existing floor or wall, making it a realistic option for renovations where pouring a full slab is not. Terrazzo is a third category entirely — aggregate chips (marble, glass, or stone) set in a cement or resin binder and ground smooth.
Why the distinction matters when buying
"Concrete floor" quoted for a renovation is very often actually microcement, since true poured concrete is rarely retrofitted into an existing multi-storey building without significant structural work. Ask which product is actually being installed — the maintenance and crack behaviour differ.
Microcement is more flexible and less prone to hairline cracking than poured concrete because of its thinness and often-polymer-modified formulation, but it is also more dependent on correct substrate preparation — a poorly prepared base telegraphs through a microcement finish more visibly than through a structural slab.