Sintered stone combines beauty and functionality in ways that traditional materials can’t match. However, just like any other material, they also have some limitations that cannot be overlooked.
Whether you’re renovating your kitchen, upgrading your bathroom, or tackling a commercial project — let us help you understand if they are the right choice for you by weighing Sintered Stone pros and cons.
With that, let’s get into the details below.
Sintered stone is a modern composite material that blends natural minerals with innovative manufacturing techniques.
They are manufactured through a process of compressing and heating raw materials at exceptionally high temperatures to create an ultra-dense, non-porous surface.
This unique process makes sintered stones exceptionally durable, while also rendering them resistant to scratches, stains, and heat.
You can learn more about sintered stone in our detailed guide.
Here is a quick glimpse of the pros and cons of using a sintered stone:
Sintered stone worktops come with various pros. Let’s take a look at them below:
Sintered stone stands out for its low maintenance requirements. Unlike natural stones that often need regular sealing and special cleaning products, a sintered stone is easy to care for.
All you need is a damp cloth and mild soap to keep it looking brand new.
A very impressive characteristic of sintered stone is its durability. This material stands out in several aspects:
The most popular sintered stone brands are Dekton, Neolith and Lapitec which have modern and unique design options available. They can easily mimic the look and feel of natural stones like marble and granite with much better accuracy, compared to other materials like laminate.
This allows you to get the look of natural stone without the associated maintenance issues.
Sintered stone offers a lot of health and safety advantages, including:
At the end of its useful life, a sintered stone can be crushed and recycled into new products, creating less waste.
Furthermore, the production process relies mainly on natural materials and heat, with relatively few chemicals involved. This creates lower emissions and a smaller environmental footprint than a couple of other engineered stones.
Sintered stone comes at a cost higher than most of its alternatives in countertops. Advanced production, unique installation, and limited manufacturers account for a good share of this cost.
Generally, Sintered stone countertops can run as high as £500 or £600 per square foot, making it much higher than granite or laminate.
Take a look at the comparison table below:
Material
Price Range
Sintered Stone
£500 to £600 per square metre
Granite
£40 to £180 per square foot
Marble
£180 per square foot
For more information, please visit Estrella.
Quartz
£50 and £100 per square foot
Note: Prices for Sintered stones are calculated as “per square metre.” Moreover, the prices mentioned above are average costs. Exact prices may vary.
You can also read our detailed Sintered stone vs Quartz comparison to learn more.
Sintered stones are so hard and dense that it’s almost impossible to just DIY their repairs. It’s advisable to get a professional involved to avoid chipping or cracking its surface.
The countertop may also sometimes require complete replacement when the damage is large. This can also be time-consuming and expensive.
While sintered stone worktops offer various design options, its range of colours is more narrow compared to natural materials like granite or marble.
Some homeowners may think that certain patterns of sintered stone are too simple, without much depth and variation, or find them not as authentic as natural stone. It really depends on your preferences and the colour scheme of the project where the stone will be used.
Sintered stone has fewer manufacturers and suppliers compared to more popular materials, thereby affecting its pricing and delivery times.
Furthermore, not all stone fabricators have experience with sintered stone, which may limit options for installation and customization.
Sintered stone worktops, also known as next-gen engineered stones, are ideal for people who need durable, convenient, environment-friendly, and aesthetic options.
However, while making your choice, make sure to carefully take into consideration its expensive pricing and other disadvantages.
If you’re still confused about whether Sintered stones are the right option for you, feel free to reach out to us. At Paramount Stone Specialists, we can help you choose the right countertop for your needs. We also carry a great range of sintered stones, which you’re likely not to find everywhere else.
Hi, I’d like to introduce myself – my name is Hannah and I’ve recently joined the design team at Creative Kitchen & Bath. I am a Seattle transplant (very green! I arrived here a few months ago from a very rural area of southwest Virginia) and I’m enjoying seeing the world from a different longitude and latitude. One of my favorite things about being in Seattle is the number of opportunities I find to see and learn about new products I can use as a designer.
http://www.cdkstone.com.au/luxury-surfaces/surfaces-neolith/
Last week I attended a CEU class on Sintered Stone (also called “ultra-compact surfacing”). This is a product that has been on the American market for about 5 years and has recently been getting a lot of attention as a surface that can be used in new homes and remodels. Sintered stone is created through a kiln-fired process that heats (over F) and applies pressure (lbs/square inch) to a mineral blend until it binds together. In short, it’s synthesizing the process by which igneous rock is formed. Unlike quartz, which uses a small percentage of resin that may fade and yellow over time, sintered stone is color-fast. Not only is sintered stone UV-stable and chemical resistant, it has the best compressive strength of any comparable products currently on the market. Sintered stone also has no warping and essentially no thermal expansion, regardless of temperature and moisture changes. Not to mention it’s completely non-porous and will not stain. I’m sure you’re already thinking about the advantages of having a countertop made of sintered stone, but that’s not all it can do.
Originally developed for exterior building cladding, it’s uses have expanded and evolved. Countertops (indoor and outdoor use), interior cladding, flooring and fireplace surrounds are among some of the more common applications. The stone is manufactured in slabs of about 5-feet by 11-feet and in varying thicknesses and it has more tensile strength than many of the other counter-top materials on the market. The sintered stone especially lends itself to European and contemporary design because it allows designers to continue solid surfaces and straight lines, but it’s not limited to any style or design trend. Sintered stone manufacturers offer an array of textures and many colors to add interest to any space. What I love about the textured sintered stone is that any finish, from a high polish to a very “rough-cut-edge,” it still has the UV-stable and chemical resistant properties which allow it to be easily cleaned and maintained (no sealing needed!). Of course, you may not want a rough countertop, but what about a feature staircase? Or a pool deck, and even the pool interior itself.
https://www.themarbleandgranitecentre.co.uk/materials/granite
The heat-resistance of sintered stone also opens some very cool possibilities for cook-tops, fire places and outdoor fire pits. It can also be produced with anti-microbial properties and becomes a food-safe surface. I won’t recommend using your expensive knives if you cut food on a sintered stone countertop, but you would be able to prepare your raw foods on the surface and put your hottest pots and pans directly onto the counter without worrying about the surface holding up to stains, heat, and scratches.
http://www.moddesignguru.com//03/thin-slab-porcelain-alternative-to.html
If you did find some
spots or marks after letting that red wine spill sit overnight, you could take
any degreaser, even rust remover, (you could use paint thinner if you so
desired but I’m not recommending that either!) and it would clean your spots
and leave the countertop undamaged!Although
you probably don’t have to worry about this in your home, one of the real
benefits of the product for exterior use is that paint (graffiti) can literally
be removed with mineral spirits and the sintered stone is no worse for wear.
http://www.forresidentialpros.com/directory/countertops-surfacing-materials/product//lapitec-spa-mocha-sintered-stone
Although it’s a relatively new product and solid colors are most common in sintered stones, several of the companies that manufacture the product (Lapitec, Dekton, and Sapienstone to name a few ) have begun producing slabs that have marbled and veined look. Depending on the manufacturer, this is either printed onto the slab or manufactured as a through-body design. The printed slabs have more variety of looks, but the through-body slabs will have the patterning show through edges and may look more “natural.” As the manufacturing process advances and the market expands, I’m sure sintered stone will begin to develop the same kind of visual variety we’re seeing in quartz today.
If I were to get into the design possibilities I could really get carried away… the rules to remember are sintered stone is manufactured, and therefore needs to be fabricated and installed like quartz, and even though the fabrication process is slightly different, basically any shape they can cut quartz into, they can also cut sintered stone. Keep an eye out for more sintered stone showing up on surfaces, in businesses, showrooms and maybe even your neighbor’s kitchen!
Thanks for reading and please let me know if you have any questions, and I hope this has sparked your creative mind! I’d also love your feedback since I’d like to continue posting as I come across new products and ideas that get me excited.
Best,
Hannah
For more information, please visit Solid-Color Sintered Stone.