What Stone Material is best for my Kitchen Benchtop?
Stone Benchtops fall into 3 main categories: Ceramic, Engineered and Natural. This guide will teach you the different types of stone materials and their properties. It will also help you choose the right brand and material for your kitchen!
Ceramic Stone (also known as Sintered Stone or Ultra-compact Stone) is created using a recipe of natural stone, glass and porcelain ingredients. These materials are brought together using a process known as Sinterized Particle Technology (SPT) which involves mixing the raw materials under extreme pressure and heat.
Ceramic Stone is recognized for its heat resistance, being one of the only stone products you can place hot pots directly onto. Its UV resistance allows it to be used for both indoor and outdoor applications. Ceramic Stone is available in 4mm, 6, 8, 12 and 20mm thick slabs making it an ideal choice for splashbacks, fire hearths as well as bathroom and shower walls.
You can learn more about Ceramic/Sintered Stone in our article "Sintered Stone: All you need to know when choosing your kitchen benchtop".
Engineered Stone (also known as Composite Stone; Quartz) benchtops contain crushed quartz mixed together by a polymer resin in a ratio of 93% to 7%. They are often mixed with materials such as coloured glass, mirrors, shells and metals providing a variety of different patterns and colours.
Engineered Stone has the look and feel of Natural Stone. Its composition of mostly quartz along with an impervious resin make it an extremely hard wearing and durable benchtop product. Engineered stone is available in a wide variety of patterns and colours to suit almost any kitchen style from the classical to the contemporary.
Engineered Stone has better resistance to stains and scratching than natural stone. Due to its non-porous properties most Engineered Stone Benchtops require little to no care and maintenance.
Learn more about Composite/Engineered Stone in our article "Which Engineered Stone or Quartz is the best product?".
Natural Stone benchtops such as Granite, Marble, Quartzite, Limestone and Onyx are quarried directly from the earth as a single chunk. These benchtops are all natural stone that have been taken out as large blocks which are later cut into individual slabs and polished.
The beauty of Natural Stone is that every slab is unique. We recommend personally selecting your slabs from one of our recommended stone importers.
Because Natural Stone is porous it must be sealed before use and we recommend that it is re-sealed every 5 years. Love My Kitchen Benchtop will seal your natural stone benchtop on the day we install it. We recommend using Lithofin NanoTOP for superior stone protection.
Colour Schemes
Choosing a colour and material for your kitchen benchtop can be one of the most challenging tasks. Unlimited choice can be paralyzing and prevent someone from making a choice to change altogether. That is why we recommend talking to us. Our well-trained staff can guide you towards the best stone product to suit your style and your budget.
What style of benchtop are you wanting?
To find out how to get your free colour consultation at your home give us a call. You can reach us at 0800 23 66 44
