Porcelain Benchtops

Advantages of Porcelain:

📌 Available in a wide range of colours and styles, some of which imitate natural stones.

📌 Can withstand high temperatures

📌 It is extremely strong and scratch resistant (not completely, there as some exceptions, such as with a ceramic knife).

📌 It is impervious to water, so if spills occur, no need to worry about them absorbing into the benchtop

📌 It is very low maintenance, non-porous and stain resistant (to most products), and sealing is not required in most instances (check with your supplier). It is also chemical resistant, so most household products can be used safely on the benchtop.

📌 UV resistant

📌 Environmentally friendly and recyclable.

📌 Porcelain is manufactured in large slab sizes, so making it ideal for long benches.

📌 As the product is thin, much thinner than the slabs thicknesses for natural stone, this product can be laid over existing benchtop materials (there can be some drawbacks for this, see below).

Disadvantages of Porcelain:

📌 If laying over an existing benchtop, often a plywood substrate will be used, so this will make the benchtop higher, and can cause moisture to be trapped between the existing bench and the new bench. Sometimes it is easier just to remove the existing benchtop and replace with a new one.

📌 It can still crack, it is strong, but still be mindful that this can still occur if it is a blunt force

📌 The fabrication process is much tricker, so finding the right installer for a kitchen and bathroom application is a must. Cracking does occur at times during the installation process.

📌 The pattern is only on the surface, so if cracked, the colour below the glazed surface will be different.

📌 The lifespan is not as long as say a natural stone.

📌 Depending on the supplier, the price can sometimes be on par with natural stones.

📌 Porcelain benchtops can sometimes be confused with “ultra-compact surface,” also known as "sintered stone." The pattern/colour is full thickness with these products.

📌 There are as many edge details available for a porcelain benchtop, as there would be for a natural stone, this is due to the thickness and the pattern is only printed on the top.