Artificial stone

ARTIFICIAL STONE

solid surface

engineered quartz

sintered stone

ARTIFICIAL STONE TYPES

	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

Comparison of Engineered Quartz to Sintered Stone

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.

ARTIFICIAL STONE PROPERTIES

	HEAT RESISTANT	WILL ETCH	WILL SCRATCH	WILL STAIN	CAN BACKLIGHT
SOLID SURFACE			x		x
ENGINEERED QUARTZ
SINTERED STONE	x