Porcelain and Sintered Stone - What's the Difference?

When it comes to the stone industry, there are a number of questions that come up regarding stone types and the durability of each. In addition to these questions, some wonder what the differences are in composition and uses. For the most part, this type of information is enough to help individuals select which type of material they are going to install. However, others want to know about the detailed differences between two materials. In this article, we will compare the differences between porcelain and sintered stone. As we discuss these differences, we will take a look at what matters when deciding between these materials.

Porcelain - A Material With a Long History

Porcelain technology has been around for many years. The material is used in many different aspect of product creation and design. Its rich history and diversity have caused many to learn about this material. Additionally, they experience with products that are composed of or are created entirely of porcelain. This means that many people are familiar with porcelain products.

Because of familiarity with porcelain, a certain degree of trust exists. As a result, the increase use of porcelain as a cladding and surface material (countertops in particular) has been well received.

What Is Porcelain?

Porcelain is a material that is made by putting specific raw materials through a process. This process consists of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat and pressure. This process causes the atoms in the materials to behave a certain way. This causes the particles in the materials to fuse together; causing the creation of one solid piece of material.

The materials that are used to construct porcelain are usually dense clays. The methods for creating porcelain can result in a variety of textures and looks that affect the surface and interior of the resulting material.

In recent years, techniques have been developed that allow porcelain producers to scale up the sizing of their porcelain panels. This has yielded tiles and panels that can be used for wall cladding, flooring, and even counter tops in homes and commercial properties.

So, porcelain could be simply defined as a durable, engineered material that is used for counter tops, flooring, and wall cladding in homes and businesses.

Sintered Stone is Not Porcelain

Sintered stone is a material that is relatively new when you compare it to porcelain. Where porcelain has been around for years, "sintered stone" is just making its name. However, there are some similarities even though the two materials are different from one another. Namely, the process through which these materials are made is similar.

What is Sintered Stone?

The process described above that is used to make porcelain is known as "sintering". Like we mentioned earlier, the process makes use of heat and pressure to change the composition of the particles that make up the material. However, the raw materials that are used for Sintered Stone are not the same as the raw materials that are sintered when making porcelain. Hence, using different raw materials produces different results.

Similarities & Differences Between Porcelain and Sintered Stone

As with many other materials, there are similarities and differences. That's why we have a section on our site that is designed for comparing stone products. Differentiating materials, products, and performance is a key to making informed decisions.

Porcelain & Sintered Stone Similarities

Like porcelain, sintered stone can be used for multiple surfaces in building architecture, home interiors and commercial design. Sintered stone is used for cladding, flooring, building facades, and residential and business countertops and work surfaces. And, as we described earlier, sintered stone and porcelain are both made by "sintering" raw materials.

The environments in which porcelains and sintered stones can be installed are similar. Since they are both very hard materials, specific tools are required for cutting them. And as far as fabrication goes, they also require adhesives designed to work on them. For example, we recommend Glaxs cartridge glue for porcelain products. For sintered stone products however, we offer other cartridges. Mastidek is the recommended cartridge glue for DEKTON® and StrongBond is our recommendation if you are looking for a cartridge glue for Lapitec.

Differences Between Porcelain & Sintered Stone

As stated earlier, porcelain and sintered are different materials because the raw materials used to produce them are different. Raw materials used to produce porcelain generally consist of dense clay materials as we mentioned earlier. Whereas sintered stone uses other materials. This difference causes the finished product to be different from porcelain.

The differences do not end with the comparing of sintered stone and porcelain. Even one sintered stone product can be different from another. So comparing even two sintered stone products might result it noticeable differences; depending on how closely you look.

In the end, porcelain materials and sintered stone surfaces are different from one another, yet they offer similar benefits. The real question to consider is which brand or producer of your hard surface offers the selection, performance, and customer service that you are comfortable with. Knowing this will help you select the right engineered stone products for your project.