Porcelain Benchtops and Sintered Stone Compared For 2025.

With the recent ban on engineered stone around Australia, savvy designers are now looking towards alternate benchtop materials to take their designs to new heights.

Here at Asetica, we get a lot of questions about the differences between porcelain benchtops and our Techlam Sintered stone range, so we thought we'd clear up the confusion and help you better understand the differences between the two,

While porcelain and sintered stone share some similarities, there are a few major differences between them.

1. Porcelain Benchtops

Before we can understand porcelain benchtops, let's start with basics. Porcelain is a fine-grained ceramic material made primarily from something called Kaolin Clay. This is combined with other raw materials and heated at an extremely high temperature (around 1200 - 1400 degrees celcius) and compacted at an immense pressure to produce what we know as a porcelain tile. 

The benefits of using porcelain for your benchtops? 

Well, just like your tiled splashback, wall tiles and flooring it's a very durable surface. Easy to maintain and highly resistant to stains, scratches and heat, it truly is the next step above engineered stone for someone looking for durability and high resistant to everyday life. 

The drawbacks of a porcelain benchtop?

While technologies are evolving and fabricators become more used to working with porcelain, there are still a few major pitfalls of porcelain benchtops that have given it a bad wrap in the industry. 

The biggest drawback of using porcelain for your benchtops is the susceptibility to chipping and cracking due to what is called "tension". This tension can cause pressure build up and a "tightness" (if you will) in the material, that when cut by a stonemason can release this tension, causing these cracks and chips. 

In comparison to sintered stone, porcelain is not as welcoming to rapid changes in temperate as sintered stone. Think putting a hot pot on the surface, or a sudden drop in temperate. 

Where are the popular porcelain benchtop brands in Australia made?

Caesarstone recently released their new Caesarstone Porcelain collection, after purchasing a stake in an Indian ceramic producer called Liolo Ceramica. 

Other brands in the marketplace like Vasari Surfaces by Stone Ambassador, YDL and Artekk all use Chinese made porcelain over European producers. 

While European made ceramic producers are renowned for their exceptional quality and large format porcelain design, more producers seek Asian manufacturers due to the cheaper price point.

2. Sintered Stone Benchtops

While some of the earlier brands in the market (Like our Techlam Collection) have been in the global marketplace since 2007, sintered stone in comparison to engineered stone is still relatively unknown in Australia.

In 2024 and into 2025, all of that changes. 

With the complete ban on high cystalline silica engineered stone coming into effect on Jan 1, 2025, more and more designers and specifiers are looking at sintered stone as a viable and safer alternative to engineered stone. 

What is Techlam Sintered Stone?

The best way to explain Sintered Stone is this: Techlam Sintered Stone combines natural stone with extreme temperatures and immense pressure to produce a wildly durable and tough stone surface that's as close to natural stone as you can get, without the natural stone pitfalls (stains, scratches etc).

Sintered stone production replicates in hours, what takes mother nature millions of years to produce.. pretty incredible stuff.

• No staining
• No scratching
• 100% Natural
• Featuring up to 95% recycled materials
• Completely UV / Sun resistant
• Ultra low maintenance
• Requires no sealing or ongoing treatment
• Flooring, walls, benchtops, splashbacks, alfresco... you name it. 

Sintered stone is also classified as a safe surface material by the Australian Government and Worksafe Australia.

This means sintered stone never was and never will be banned by any governments in Australia thanks to it being a natural and safe stone surface. 

Our Kalos Bianco Used outdoors on this apartment balcony

 3.  Porcelain Benchtop and Sintered Stone Comparisons.

Choosing the right surface material for your project could make it, or break it, so choose wisely. Here, we take a look at the major differences between porcelain benchtops and Techlam sintered stone.

Maintenance

Both porcelain benchtops and sintered stone require next to no maintenance. This is thanks in part to a non-porous surface, which makes it really easy to clean up any spills or marks left by stray drops of red wine, sauces or spices. 

Cost of Sintered Stone and Porcelain Compared

The big factor that separates good and bad is usually down to where either your porcelain or sintered stone is produced. 

Originally produced in Europe back in the early 2000's, sintered stone has always seen the best quality coming directly from Spain and Italy.

These two pioneer countries created the popular porcelain and sintered culture, thanks to rich history working with natural stones, which then evolved into sintered stone as the new evolution of surface design,

That being said, as with anything of a higher quality, it usually means a higer price. These days, porcelain prices are beginning to come down as companies begin to source from China (Vasari by Stone Ambassador) and India (Caesarstone Porcelain).

Does this detract from quality? That's yet to be seen, however the gold standard in stone surfaces comes from European produced slabs, that will typically command a higher price point because of this quality.

You can expect to pay anywhere between $180 - $220 p/sqm for both porcelain and sinterd stone brands. 

However our Techlam collection is one of the most affordable designs in the Australian marketplace today, certainly a LOT more cost effective than a purely natural stone.

With natural stone, you will also be looking at the additional costs of regular sealing and any ongoing maintenance thanks to it's softer and more porous surface, which is prone to chipping, staining and scratching. 

Environmental Impact Of Porcelain & Sintered Stone

While both porcelain and sintered stone share a sustainable focus, there is a notable difference on why sintered stone is a more eco-friendly, sustainable material.

This comes down to one major element, how it's produced. 

As sintered stone is a 100% natural material (As appose to Porcelain which can use a mixture of natural materials + chemical binders), it lends itself to a more sustainable product.

The production practices for sintered stone out of Europe as some of the best in the world, namely our Techlam range, which is.

• Produced using 100% renewable energy
• 100% recycled water
• Zero emissions 
• Zero toxic binders and chemical
• 100% natural materials
• Ethically sourced materials from all over Europe
• Greenguard certificed
• ISO 14001 certified
• Zero waste certified
• Less energy used in production than other surfaces

These are many of the sustainable practices that you will not find with many Asian producers, or be able to find information from the factories about the sustainable production methods. 

Quality of the design

One of the major complaints we get here at Asetica in regards to porcelain brands is the lack of quality in the surface print.

Both sintered stone and porcelain have a printed surface top. This means you can replicate any surface design available today and simply have it printed on your porcelain or sintered stone surface, pretty neat. 

However, the major drawback of some porcelain brands is the quality of the printed surface. Look close enough and you will see a pixelated design, that from far away looks great, but close up, looks very poor.

This comes down to the quality of the production machines the suppliers are using and again why European design trumps Asian made designs, which have only been producing porcelain for a few short years. 

In Conclusion

While both porcelain and sintered stone are great options for your next project, consider the major differences above to really understand your final choice and how that will impact your overall designs.

Consider the sustainable and natural nature of sintered stone and the origins of the material before choosing another cheap Chinese made porcelain, purely based on price alone. 

Your future self will thank you for it.