“Natural Stone VS Man-Made Stone”

When it comes to designing a new kitchen or renovating an existing one the most popular choice for benchtops is stone, but what is the best choice between natural stone or man-made stone? Numerous masons and wholesalers are offering beautiful choices between the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.

They offer both options, but which one is better?

The answer to this question will help you choose a good benchtop material. What is the most appropriate material for your project? Crucial elements, like durability and practicality. Would you want to invest in an option that is expensive and good looking, but is neither durable nor practical?

With the following, you can make your decision easily:

Natural Stone

Natural Stone is what has been around for thousands of years. The texture and colour will vary according to the area, from where the stone was quarried. Natural Stone has formed naturally, so finding two similar pieces of stone is highly unlikely.
Natural Stone is resistant to staining, scratches and chipping. Natural Stone is, by nature, resilient and durable. These factors make it resistant to scratching and chipping, under normal conditions.
The large variety of colours, style and type is quite common to the natural stone. This is one of the major points that differentiate natural stone from the engineered kind. The options are so varied that you have an opportunity to find your own unique design and slab, especially for your project.
Natural stone can be cost-effective. This is because the more expensive kind of natural stone is more porous and thus softer, which basically means that it becomes prone to scratches. So, it does not mean that the expensive kind of stone is better. The price should not be the deciding factor whether the quality of the natural stone is good or not.

Man-Made Stone

Man-made stone is an engineered product, which is denser than natural stone and offers more consistency among its products. In most brands of engineered stone, the main component is quartz, which is a strong mineral.
Engineered stone offers consistency among all its products. The consistency can be seen in both the style and the colour. This consistency is because of the same manufacturing process that is used for every batch made.
Engineered stone has very little porosity, making it highly resistant to scratches, chips and stains. This helps make it a hygienic option for bathroom and kitchen benchtops as well as other surfaces.
The sample that you select might not be an exact copy of the slab that is laid on the benchtops. The manufacturing process does help with consistency, but it is most accurate within its batch. If the sample you chose and the slab are from different batches, then there might be a difference in shade tones. This is due to the fact that the major component of engineered stone is natural forming quartz, which might differ in shade from time to time.
Just like a natural stone, the price might vary according to the quality of the engineered stone.

Does this mean that man-made stone is better than natural stone?

Stone is a material that is popular among most homeowners as a choice for their benchtop. Each kind of stone engineered and natural comes with its own entourage of pros and cons. So neither is ultimately better than the other. It really comes down to personal preference. Would you like an even tone or would you want each benchtop to be unique? In my personal opinion, I would prefer to have my own unique part of the mountain in my project!

Check out some of our recent projects here.