If you have been into a kitchen showroom you may well have felt overwhelmed with the choices that lay in front of you.
It seems that now the biggest decision to be made when designing your kitchen is the benchtop. In many cases it is the costliest part of the kitchen, so its understandable that you want to make the right choice.
Here is a simple guideline of the 3 main categories of stone used for kitchen benchtops.
Natural Stone
This is derived directly from the earth and includes Granite, Marble and Quartzite. These stones are mined directly from the earth in large chunks and later cut into 20mm and 30mm slabs, polished and sealed.
Granite is the hardest wearing of the natural stones and is less prone to staining than marble and Quartzite which are ‘softer’ stones. Natural stone must be sealed every 5 years.
Composite Stone
The main components of composite stones are 93% crushed natural stone such as quartz and granite mixed with 7% strong adhesive agents. This mixture goes through an industrial solidification and pressurization process producing an extremely hard-wearing, stain resistant surface and features trending colours and patterns to suite any kitchen style.
Most composite stones come with a 10-year stone warranty. We recommend you stick with trusted brands only.
Sintered Stone
This stone is made with a blend of natural stone products ground together into a fine powder. These ingredients are brought together by an advanced ‘sinterization’ process of extreme heat, pressure and vibration. Sinterization replicates what nature achieves over 1000’s of years in a short space of time. Sintered stone is heat and stain proof and comes with a 10-year warranty.
Trending Colours, Patterns and textures are available in Sintered stone, however, are seen only on the top surface of the stone and do not run right through the thickness of the slab.
Check out the colour range of each sintered stone brand: Florim, Neolith, Dekton
As with all products not any of the above stones are indestructible. If you would like to know the durability rating of each of these stone categories then go to our blog.
Which stone is the most durable? A fabricators Rating out of 10
If your cabinet maker has provided you with one of our quotes you can be rest assured that your benchtop product will be from a reputable, quality brand and made according to the Stone fabricators specifications. Bringing you a benchtop that you will simply love for years to come is what we do.
You may be interested in one of these articles...
- Modernise your kitchen with a benchtop replacement
- Sintered Stone: All you need to know when choosing your Kitchen benchtop
- How much will a Stone Kitchen Benchtop Cost?
