— Sintered stone · Bayswater, Melbourne
Sintered stone benchtops.
Sintered stone benchtops in Melbourne, cut and installed from our Bayswater workshop. Minerals pressed and fired into a slab with no resin. Smartstone first, then Dekton and Neolith.
— 01 · From slab to install
How your sintered stone benchtop gets made
The short version, for sintered stone: four steps from choosing a range to a bench you never need to seal.
- Step 1 of 4
Choose the range and colour
Sintered slabs are made to a design, so you pick a range: Smartstone first, with Dekton and Neolith ordered in for your job.
- Step 2 of 4
Plan every mitre and join
The face wraps each corner through a mitre, so the layout places every mitre, waterfall end and join on the slab before you approve it.
- Step 3 of 4
See it finished, indoors or out
The render shows the finished job before cutting. It is colour-fast in full sun, which is why it goes on outdoor kitchens and barbecue benches.
- Step 4 of 4
Slow, clean passes
The saw slows at the cutouts and mitres, every cutout is supported, and each piece travels to site with care. From then on, wipe it clean.
See the full process, from your drawings to install →
— 02 · Edges, thickness, fluting
Sintered stone waterfall ends, splashbacks and mitred edges
Mitred waterfall ends and full-height splashbacks suit sintered stone. The edge itself is a square arris or a pencil round, and a thicker front is mitred. Every other edge and fluted profile is shown below, marked not available on sintered stone.
Bookmatched slabs
Two consecutive slabs opened like a book, so the veining mirrors across the join.
Sintered stone is minerals fired into a slab, with no resin, coloured through the body.
See how your pieces are laid out on the slab →
Where sintered stone works
- Kitchen benchtopsIdealShrugs off heat, stains and scratches; mind the corners.
- Islands and waterfall endsIdealMitred ends carry the pattern round.
- Bathroom vanitiesIdealNeeds no sealing, wipes clean.
- SplashbacksIdealFull height in one slab.
- Feature wallsIdealThin sheets suit walls and cladding.
- FireplacesIdealMade for heat.
- Outdoor kitchensIdealSun, rain and a hot barbecue do not bother it.
- BarsIdealA hard-wearing surface for a busy bar.
- Edge profiles and flutingNot availableSquare arris or pencil round only.
Living with sintered stone
Hardness
Harder than granite on the face. Knives, keys and dragged pans do not mark it, which is why busy kitchens pick it.
Heat
Take a pan off the hob and set it straight down. The slab was fired at over 1,200 degrees to make it, so the stove does not worry it.
Stains and sealing
Nothing soaks in, so nothing stains and it never needs sealing. Wipe it and it is clean. Wine, lemon and oil leave no mark.
Outdoors
Colour-fast in full sun and unbothered by rain. It is the stone we put on outdoor kitchens and barbecue benches.
Knocks and edges
Dense and brittle. A hard knock on an unsupported corner or a thin cutout can crack it, so every cutout is supported and every edge is handled with care until it is installed. If a piece chips off, it can usually be glued back in place; how much it shows depends on how intact the piece is and how cleanly it fits back.
In the workshop
Cut on the bridge saw with slow, clean passes at the cutouts and mitres, then mitred and joined at the edges so the face wraps the corner. Every cutout is supported and every piece is moved with care from the saw to the site.
The ranges people ask for
Smartstone Taj Mahal
Warm cream with soft gold veins, the sintered take on the quartzite of the same name.
Smartstone Calacatta Viola
White ground with wine-coloured veins. The most searched stone name in Australia this year.
Smartstone Bellini Bianco
Soft white with a light grey vein. The quiet one.
Dekton, Neolith
The other sintered ranges, ordered in per job.
— 03 · Before you buy
Sintered stone questions: pros and cons, brands, heat and cost
01Is sintered stone banned in Australia?
No. The 2024 ban is about engineered stone, the quartz slabs bound with resin. Sintered stone has no resin in it and was never covered. Along with porcelain, it is what the trade moved to.
02What is the difference between sintered stone and porcelain?
Same family. Both are minerals fired hard. Porcelain is thinner, with the pattern printed on the face. Sintered stone is thicker and denser, and on most ranges the colour runs through the body, so a cut edge looks like the face.
03Does sintered stone chip?
On the face, almost never. On an edge or a thin cutout, it can, if it takes a hard knock. That is why we mitre the edges and support every cutout.
04Can you put hot pans on sintered stone?
Yes. It was fired at over 1,200 degrees. A pan off the hob does not mark it.
05Is sintered stone good for an outdoor kitchen?
It is the best of the four for outdoors. Colour-fast in sun, unbothered by rain, and a hot barbecue plate does nothing to it.
06What does a sintered stone benchtop cost?
More than reconstituted stone, in the range of a mid marble, less than the rarer quartzites. The slab count, the cutouts and the mitred edges decide it, and we quote it live on your slab layout, not from a rate card.
07Smartstone, Dekton or Neolith?
All three are sintered. Smartstone is the range we show first, with its slabs on our floor. Dekton and Neolith come in per job. The right one is usually the colour you like, because they behave the same in a kitchen.
08How thick is a sintered stone benchtop?
Most sintered slabs come in 12 mm and 20 mm, with thinner sheets for walls and splashbacks. A thicker look is built up with a mitred edge, so the front reads as one solid piece.
09Is sintered stone more expensive than engineered stone?
Usually, yes. The slabs cost more and the cutting is slower and more careful. The price comes down to the range, the size of the job and the edges, and we quote from your plans.
10How do you clean sintered stone?
Warm water and a mild detergent or a non-abrasive surface cleaner. It needs no sealing, and most marks wipe straight off.
11Can sintered stone have a profiled or fluted edge?
No. Sintered stone is brittle, like a very large tile: cut a profile or carve fluting into it and it chips, cracks or shatters, where other stones can be shaped and carved. Its edges stay a square arris or a pencil round, and a thicker front is mitred.
— Come and see it
See the sintered ranges in person.
Factory 4, 15 Ramage St, Bayswater. Monday to Friday, 9 to 4, weekends by appointment. Bring your plans and we will show your job on the slab you like.
— 04 · Against the others
Sintered stone against the other stones
Sintered stone beside the other three, in plain words: what each one is, and the three places it does better or worse than sintered.
Sintered stone
Natural minerals pressed and fired into a dense slab with no resin, coloured through the body on most ranges. Every slab in a range matches the last.
In the workshop
Cut with slow, clean passes at the cutouts and mitres, mitred and joined at the edges so the face wraps the corner, and supported at every cutout from the saw to the site.
Where each one differs from sintered stone: green is better, red is worse.
Natural stone Marble · Granite · Quartzite · Travertine
Rock cut from a quarried block into slabs, then polished or honed. Every slab is its own.
Porcelain Large-format porcelain slabs
A large-format ceramic slab, fired from clay and minerals, with the pattern printed on the face. Thin, light and colour-fast.
Reconstituted stone Quartz-look engineered surfaces, zero-silica
Crushed mineral bound in resin and cured into a uniform slab. The same colour and pattern every time. The reconstituted slabs we cut are specified by their manufacturers as containing less than 1% crystalline silica and fall outside the engineered stone prohibition. Safe Work Australia: the engineered stone ban