What Is Sintered Stone? A Guide to Sintered Stone Table Tops

Sintered stone is a manufactured surface made by pressing natural minerals, mainly clay, quartz and feldspar, and firing them at very high temperatures until they fuse into one dense, hard slab. It contains no resin, which sets it apart from engineered stone, and it's used for table tops and benchtops.

This guide covers how sintered stone is made, how it relates to ceramic and porcelain, and how it compares with marble and engineered stone, including whether Australia's engineered stone ban applies. It also covers how sintered stone handles heat, spills, scratches and sun, and where it can chip.

Key takeaways

• Sintered stone is a ceramic, fired from minerals such as clay, quartz and feldspar, rather than a slab of natural stone cut from a quarry.
• Sintered stone contains no resin, which is why Australia's engineered stone ban, in place since 1 July 2024, doesn't cover it.
• A sintered stone top resists heat and stains, but a trivet under hot pans and a cutting board under knives are still good habits.
• The weak point of a sintered stone top is its edges and corners, which can chip if something heavy knocks or falls on them.

What is sintered stone made of, and how is it made?

Sintered stone is made from natural minerals, mainly clay, quartz and feldspar, which are pressed into a slab and fired at very high temperatures. The heat and pressure fuse the mineral particles into one dense, solid surface, with no resin or glue holding them together.

Sintering is the process of turning a powder into a solid, less porous material using pressure, heat or both, without melting it into a liquid. That's the definition used in a University of Wollongong study prepared for Safe Work Australia. Less porous simply means there are fewer tiny gaps for liquid to soak into.

Feldspar is a common mineral, found in many types of rock, that helps the other ingredients fuse together when they're fired. Resin is a plastic-based binder that some manufactured surfaces use to glue crushed stone together. Sintered stone doesn't need it, because the firing does that job.

Porcelain stoneware is the technical name researchers use for this family of dense, fired ceramics. According to a review in Materiales de Construcción, porcelain stoneware is a strongly sintered ceramic made from ball clay, quartz and feldspar. The same review says it's fired in a fast cycle of 60 to 90 minutes, counting both heating up and cooling down. It also says porcelain stoneware fired above 1200 °C has the structure of a fully fired ceramic, with all the reactions between the raw materials complete.

That fully fired, tightly packed structure is what gives sintered stone the stain and heat resistance covered further down this guide.

Is sintered stone real stone, or is it a type of ceramic?

Sintered stone is not quarried stone. It's a ceramic product in the same family as porcelain, made from minerals that are also found in natural stone. The marble, granite or concrete look you see on a sintered stone top is created during manufacturing, not cut from a block in the ground.

Ceramic is a hard material made by shaping minerals such as clay and hardening them with heat. The University of Wollongong study for Safe Work Australia groups products sold as sintered stone and porcelain together as "ceramic stone". It describes them as ceramic products in terms of what they're made of. Adore Home Living groups its ceramic and sintered stone tops together too, and they're the largest material group across its dining and living furniture.

Several names on furniture tags describe closely related ceramic materials:

• Sintered stone: a name used for large, dense ceramic slabs made by fusing minerals with heat and pressure.
• Porcelain: a dense type of ceramic, grouped with sintered stone in the Safe Work Australia study.
• Ceramic: the wider family that both materials belong to.

Because the look is created rather than quarried, the same material can be made to resemble marble, granite or concrete, or come in a plain colour.

How does sintered stone compare with marble?

Sintered stone and marble can look alike, but they behave differently. Sintered stone is a fired ceramic with no resin, while natural marble is a stone that reacts to acids such as lemon juice and vinegar. Adore Home Living's marble tops also carry a resin coating, which changes how they handle heat and sun.

According to the Natural Stone Institute, marble and other calcium-rich stones are sensitive to acids. As a result, products containing lemon, vinegar or other acids may dull or etch the surface. Etching is a dull mark left where acid has reacted with the surface of the stone. The Natural Stone Institute also notes that sealing makes natural stone more stain resistant, not stain proof.

Resin-coated marble is marble with a layer of resin over its surface. Adore's marble tops are made this way, with a colour film under the resin. Adore's care guide notes that the resin coating is not heatproof and recommends coasters, placemats or trivets. It also notes that strong sun can yellow the resin.

Here's how the three compare day to day:

Is sintered stone the same as engineered stone, and is it banned in Australia?

Sintered stone is not the same as engineered stone, and it isn't banned in Australia. Engineered stone is held together with resin, and its benchtops, panels and slabs have been banned nationally since 1 July 2024. Sintered stone and porcelain are excluded from the ban, provided they contain no resin.

Engineered stone is an artificial product with at least 1% crystalline silica, made by combining natural stone materials with substances such as water, resins or pigments and then hardening the mix. That's the legal definition used by Safe Work Australia. Safe Work Australia also confirms that sintered stone and porcelain products aren't covered by the ban as long as they don't contain resin. In Western Australia, WorkSafe WA lists porcelain products and sintered stone as currently excluded from the engineered stone ban.

Laboratory testing for a University of Wollongong study prepared for Safe Work Australia found 0% resin in sintered stone and porcelain samples, compared with 8.4% to 20.6% resin in quartz-based engineered stone.

Sintered stone still contains crystalline silica, though. Crystalline silica is a natural mineral, found in quartz and many types of stone, that can pose health risks when its dust is breathed in. According to a 2024 study in Open Ceramics, porcelain stoneware contains on average 21 ± 5% crystalline silica by weight, compared with about 30% for granite and about 90% for engineered stone. The Wollongong study also notes that the quartz content of porcelain ceramics stays above 1% by weight regardless of firing temperature. That means sintered stone isn't silica-free.

Safe Work Australia advises that dust from processing any stone benchtop, panel or slab, including products not covered by the ban, can pose health risks when breathed in. The risk comes from the dust created when a slab is cut or processed. Leave any cutting, drilling or reshaping of a sintered stone top to a qualified tradesperson.

How does sintered stone hold up to heat, spills, scratches and Perth sun?

Sintered stone holds up well to everyday use. Its dense, fired surface resists stains, heat, chemicals and cleaning products. Adore Home Living describes its ceramic and sintered stone tops as resistant to scratches, stains and heat. Resistant doesn't mean nothing can mark it, so a few simple habits still help.

Here's how sintered stone handles the things a table top deals with most:

• Spills and stains: Water absorption is how much liquid a material soaks up, measured as a percentage of its weight. According to a review in Materiales de Construcción, porcelain stoneware belongs to the ISO 13006 group for ceramics with water absorption of 0.5% or less. That leaves wine, coffee and oil very little chance to soak in. In CHOICE's lab tests of kitchen benchtops, porcelain was stain resistant.
• Heat: In the same CHOICE tests, porcelain was also heat resistant. A technical guide from Italian slab manufacturer Laminam states that its slabs resist thermal shock. Thermal shock is the stress a material goes through when its temperature changes suddenly, such as a hot pan landing on a cool surface. The manufacturer still recommends trivets, so it's worth using one under pans straight off the stove.
• Cleaners and chemicals: The Materiales de Construcción review describes porcelain stoneware as resistant to chemicals and cleaning products. The manufacturer's guide states that, for its slabs, the only chemical that can damage the ceramic is hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive acid.
• Scratches: CHOICE found that porcelain performed excellently for cut resistance. The manufacturer's guide notes that objects as hard as ceramic, such as ceramic knives and diamond tools, can scratch any finish, and it recommends cutting boards.
• Perth sun: According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Perth Airport averages 8.8 hours of sunshine a day across the year, and 11.6 hours a day in January and December. UV light is the part of sunlight that fades and discolours many materials over time. The manufacturer's guide states that its slabs resist UV light without changing colour, which matters for a table beside a sunny window.

The manufacturer's guidance applies to its own slabs, so other brands and finishes may perform differently.

What are the downsides of sintered stone, and does it chip?

The main downside of sintered stone is its edges. A sintered stone top is hard-wearing across its flat surface, but the edges and corners can chip if something heavy knocks or falls on them. Sintered stone also shouldn't carry heavy loads, such as someone standing on it, and it needs full support from its base.

In CHOICE's benchtop tests, porcelain's edge and corner chipped in the drop test, which simulated a heavy object falling from an overhead cupboard. CHOICE also notes that porcelain needs full support when installed. One slab manufacturer's technical guide warns against knocks to corners and edges, and against heavy loads such as climbing on the surface.

In everyday terms, the knocks to watch for are heavy pots, tools or decor dropped near the edges, and furniture bumped hard into the corners.

Fibreglass mesh is a grid of fine glass fibres bonded to the back of a slab to reinforce it. According to the same guide, large sintered porcelain slabs used for furniture are often reinforced this way. The manufacturer's own 12.5 mm and 20.5 mm slabs are built with a mesh glued to the back. If you notice a mesh under a table top, that's what it's there for.

An overhang is the part of a table top that extends past its base. For its own slabs, the manufacturer suggests a maximum unsupported overhang of 350 mm at 12.5 mm thick and 450 mm at 20.5 mm thick. The manufacturer also says the top should be anchored to its base so leverage can't cause cracking. The guide is written for benchtops, but the same principle applies to how far a table top extends past its base.

What else do people ask about sintered stone?

Does the finish on a sintered stone top make a difference?

Yes, the finish can affect how easily a sintered stone top shows marks. According to one slab manufacturer's technical guide, polished and soft-touch finishes on its slabs can be scratched by metal cutlery and pans. Soft-touch is a smooth, satin-feel finish. If your table sees a lot of daily cutlery, check the finish in person.

How heavy is a sintered stone table top?

A sintered stone table top is heavy. One slab manufacturer's technical guide gives average weights of 30 kg per square metre for its 12.5 mm slab and 50.4 kg per square metre at 20.5 mm. That puts a 1 m × 2 m top at 12.5 mm at about 60 kg. Other brands will differ.

Is sintered stone safe for food?

Some sintered stone is independently certified for food contact. NSF International's listings show sintered and ceramic slab collections from two manufacturers, TheSize and Laminam, certified to NSF/ANSI 51, a US standard for food equipment materials. Certification is listed by collection and colour, so it can't be assumed for every sintered stone top.

What should you do next?

The next step is to match what you now know about sintered stone to the table you have in mind:

1. Picture the table in daily use: think about where it will sit, how much sun it gets, and how often hot dishes, spills and knocks will come its way.
2. Check the finish and the base: look at whether the top is polished or soft-touch, how far it overhangs, and how firmly it's supported by its base.
3. See and touch the tops in person: comparing sintered stone, ceramic and marble tops side by side makes the differences in finish and feel much easier to judge.

Ceramic and sintered stone tops are the largest material group across Adore Home Living's dining and living furniture, including the Ananta ceramic range, and you can visit the Jandakot, Cannington, Malaga and Rockingham showrooms in Perth, open 7 days with free parking, to see the range in person. If you're weighing a sintered stone top against Adore's resin-coated marble, Adore Design Services can help you choose a table for your room in-store, in-home or by phone.