ACRYLIC | QUARTZ | SINTERED | |
MANUFACTURERS |
Corian
Hi-Macs Staron |
Silestone Caesarstone |
Neolith Dekton Lapitec Laminam |
WHAT IS IT? |
70% natural stone (grounded into powder) and 30% resins and pigments |
90% natural stone (grounded into powder) and 10% resins and pigments |
100% natural (sintered into slabs by using very high temperature and extremely high pressure) |
APPEARANCE |
Matte Polished Solid Patterned Relief |
Matte Polished One-coloured Patterned |
Matte Polished One-coloured Patterned Rough Wavy Relief |
HEAT RESISTANCE | Resistant to heat up to +80 °C, use trivets under hot pots and pans | Very resistant to heat up to +80 °C, use trivets under hot pots and pans | Resistant to extreme heat, no need to use trivets under hot pots and pans |
SCRATCH RESISTACE | Can scratch, scratches can be professionally refinished | Highly scratch resistant | Highly scratch resistant |
CLEANLINESS |
Non-porous Antibacterial Can be used commercially in food preparing and medical premises (has NSF 51 rating) |
Non-porous Antibacterial Can be used commercially in food preparing and medical premises (has NSF 51 rating) |
Non-porous Antibacterial Can be used commercially in food preparing and medical premises (has NSF 51 rating) |
FABRICATION | Seams will typically be invisible, many edge options available | Seams very tight, but visible, many edge options available | Seams very tight, but visible |
MAINTENANCE | No sealing necessary, top can be resanded to restore original finish | No sealing necessary | No sealing necessary |
Engineered quartz and sintered stone are both very hard surfaces that are non porous, scratch resistant and do not easily stain. The main difference between them is their composition. Quartz is a combination of the natural mineral quartz (some 90%) and the balance of the material made up of pigments and resin binders. On the other hand, sintered stone is composed entirely of natural minerals. The minerals are transformed into a new material using the process known as "sintering". This process uses intense heat and other forces like pressure and electricity to transform the minerals into a solid hard mass of a new material.
Quartz and sintered stone share the characteristic of hardness. Both materials are harder than granite. This hardness is what makes them scratch resistant and durable. Sintered stone is even harder than quartz. Both of these materials are non-porous. This means that their surface is not easily stained since liquids cannot penetrate the material to discolor it. Cleaning sintered and quartz surfaces is easy since the stain-causing agents will remain on top without getting into it.
Because of different composition sintered stone and quartz have different care requirements. One caution that you will probably find with quartz that you may not find with sintered stone is that quartz can be susceptible to burning from high temperatures. This can happen in the fabrication shop or at home. If quartz is exposed to extreme heat, it can discolor because of the limits imposed by the resins in the material. Conversely, sintered stone is formed in the presence of extremely high temperatures and is therefore resistant to very high temperatures found in normal everyday household environments.
HEAT RESISTANT | WILL ETCH | WILL SCRATCH | WILL STAIN | CAN BACKLIGHT | |
SOLID SURFACE | x | x | |||
ENGINEERED QUARTZ | |||||
SINTERED STONE | x |