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Renovating Design Dilemma Kitchens

Porcelain versus stone bench top?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I'm thinking of using porcelain as my kitchen benchtop, not manufactured or natural stone. What do you think? (NB: high end house)

Comments (4)

siriuskey
2 years ago
I found this article when I was looking at benchtop material for a family member

Porcelain sheets are the way forward, non staining and of no danger to the craftsman/maker
- Porcelain is more expensive than Quartz (both in raw material and in installation costs), but then so is marble. I am using a lot of Neolith in my house, so I shopped around to find a stone cutter who was crafty with maximising the use of each sheet of Neolith (to avoid wastage and minimise the number of sheets needed). It made a huge difference. My house was also designed around the sheet size - Neolith sheets are 3.2 metres long (so you can have a 3.2 metre benchtop or island without needing a join).
  You need to use 12mm (or thicker) sheets for benchtops. (Splashbacks and showers use 6mm thick porcelain sheets - Neolith does 2 different matching sheets for each marble design, so you can bookmark and pattern match the splashback).
  Also be aware that the marble pattern is only printed on the top of all of the brands of porcelain. If you want to continue the pattern on the “lips” of your benches, this needs to be a beveled edge (which you also need to do with quartz or marble if you want any thickness of “lip” to your benchtop). So you also have to factor in the stone cuts needed to create the benchtop “lips” when calculating sheet cutting and usage.
  I am not having edging on my benchtops and am instead going for the slim European look of “floating” benchtops. I am not worried that the 1.2 cm edge all the way around the benches will be plain white.
PRO
Compass Kitchens
2 years ago
For siriuskey, https://www.silicosishelp.com/high-silica-exposure/porcelain-ceramic-clay-silicosis-2/
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I've researched them and apparently they do end up costing more than engineered stone (Caesarstone, etc) because the fabrication costs are higher and there are less skilled fabricators of this compared to engineered stone. The only other issue is the are extremely hard which very good generally but it has the downside of making it more brittle than engineered stone. So if you drop stuff on them they can shatter and chip more easily than engineered stone but other than cost and durability I believe they are superior to engineered stone. I would probably choose it if (a) it fit my budget and (b) I didn't have a future teenager living in the house (currently 5 but I know he'll damage the bench somehow in the next 15 years!). I am not an expert so I could be wrong, take my advice with a grain of salt.
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Thank you everyone for your responses. I’m still undecided - I have a few weeks to consider what to do. The bench top salesperson showed me some photos of the few people who have added a small amount of benchtop stone to add some height (and it’s always because of a busy 60 x 30 patterned tile that the owners want to keep perfect) and in her words it looks ‘dicky’. Not least because the tile sits flatter against the wall than a 2cm thick slab of benchtop. It leaves a pronounced lip of 1.5cm where tile meets benchtop addition Then there’s the safety concerns mentioned above about flames near stone which I had not considered. Big reader - I love your maths but I’m only 150cm tall. Even with a low bench and oven height of 94cm (my oven’s lowest height setting) plus 70cm of tile between the bench and overheads, the cupboards are already 14cm above my head. This barely makes them usable for me even now! Adding another 15cm instead of the 10cm, while looking lovely and keeping the pattern intact, means my short-arse self will have real difficulty reaching anything safely. Every cm counts when you’re short! But I do appreciate your input!
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I wouldn't go those dark laminate kitchen cupboards. I have the exact same and I absolutely loathe them now. I use to love the darker colours but now I wish I had just done them white, light gray or even the dark blue (although dark blue worries me a little too!). That dark laminate brown is such an absolute pain to keep clean. They show up every mark. I like your stone bench tops though but would look at other options to create the look you're hoping for with the joins and waterfall benches etc. Goodluck with it all!
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PRO
Avant Stone
2 years ago
We have a beautiful range of porcelain material Jackie, feel free to check them out - Porcelain Slabs in Sydney | Premium Slab Range | Avant Stone
siriuskey
2 years ago
Thank you for the info Compass Kitchens

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