That is a really good price for that many feet of counter. What do the edges end up looking like?

Porcelain is more difficult to work with because of it's nature. (Tends to break when cutting, easy to chip edges when transporting or installing. Does not repair well).
It has great stain and heat resistance properties, but if you chip or break the edges, the repairs are not invisible. (Edges will chip from impacts).

Porcelain slab countertops generally are more expensive because of the amount of fabrication/install problems. Fabricators typically have to figure those issues into there bids. If they don't they will regret it later if not sooner.

We have also been looking into the porcelain marble "look-a-like" slabs and initially had very high hopes. We really liked the stonepeak plane series in a polished finish until we saw it installed on a countertop in a local tile showroom. The surface was COVERED in scratches. They claim it is from people dragging the tile boards across the surface and said they were going to have to remove the display as touting it as scratch resistant wasn't gonna work anymore :o). When we discussed this with our fabricator he said that the technology for the polished finish hadn't been perfected yet -- thus the reason you can only buy neolith in the honed finish. He did say Dekton was coming out with a polished finish soon but he hadn't seen it and couldn't vouch for it. Just a little more info from down in the bay area.....

Jillius-- I was pleasantly surprised by the price too. While not cheap, I was expecting something much more alarming. As for the edges, that's one of the things I needed to pay more attention to. The material is relatively thin and I'm not sure how deep the pattern goes, so the mitered edges were pretty sharp. I did ask about them but then got distracted by some other shiny object/piece of information and didn't follow up.

xtacie-- I can't speak for the marble-look porcelain as I didn't get a sample, but after reading your comment I took a screwdriver to my sample of Dekton Sirius, scraping the pointed edge back and forth across the surface as hard as I could. The white marking that it left washed right off with a green scrubby and soap and water, so at least the matte finished stuff seems pretty scratch-proof! ThinSlab comes in polished, so I'd be interested in trying the screwdriver on that.

AvatarWalt - thank you for posting such a useful thread.

I saw this stuff (can't remember which brand, but I think it was Neolith) a while back at a fabricators in Vancouver. They told me it's not being used for countertops as it's too thin and too easy to chip the edges. They said they are using it for fireplace surrounds and shower walls, etc.

I think this product looks really interesting, but what about this edge chipping issue? Anyone have any more info on how likely that is compared to quartz?

AineLane and others-- thanks for raising the chipping issue. I realized this morning that the ThinSlab place gave me a sample of honed Calacatta, so I dug at that with a screwdriver and whacked the edges of it and the black Dekton, along with Silestone (Lyra) and soapstones.

Scratchwise, the Calacatta ThinSlab was great--the screwdriver left dark marks, but they washed right off and the sample looks like it never happened. I whacked the sharp upper edge of the sample as hard as I could with the screwdriver several times, and it did leave little chips/dents from the impact. I did the same to the dark Dekton and it dented a bit less, but that sample has a slight bevel carved into the edge so there's not a 45 degree angle to whack. I then moved on to the Silestone, and it chipped a little more than the ThinSlab, even though the Silestone had a tiny beveled edge.

Just for fun I whacked the soapstone too, with predictably denting results. As for scratching, the soft soapstone practically gouges just from waving a screwdriver at it. I'm still very tempted by the harder soapstone just because it's so beautiful and feels so nice to the touch, but DH may nix it. As a plan B, these porcelain slabs seem to have a nice look and great--though not perfect--durability, and the chipping risk looks decent, especially if the angle of the edge isn't a sharp 45 degrees (can't say what dropping a heavy pot on the edge would do though).

Thanks for posting the results of your abuse tests! It's really so helpful to hear from someone who actually knows something about this product! I'm happy to hear they passed the tests pretty well

Today I talked to a well respected fabricator in my city regarding porcelain slab and they said that the edge chipping risk is less than marble, but a bit higher than quartz. (Contrary to your tests!) They also said that people who are choosing this material were never really interested in quartz, it's more the people who really want marble but don't want the staining issues.

Pricing (in my area at least) seems to be about 30% higher than non-laminated edge quartz, roughly.

Also, I have one more brand name to throw out: This fabricator is selling Eiffelgref slabs. It's an Italian company with apparently an excellent reputation. They have two "veined" patterns for those looking to replace marble.

I really love how this stuff looks and feels. Now I have to decide if it's worth the higher price for a little higher chipping risk!

You are so lucky! I got a local quote in Baltimore and it would have been about 4x quartzite and soapstone.

iIth these thin slabs, do they build up the thickness around an undermount sink?

scrappy25 - wow, that's a HUGE price difference!

I was just talking to another fabricator that sells Dekton and they said they don't build up around the sink cutout. So, you would see the thin slab of material (which I think is like 6mm or something).

I just found pictures of a sink cutout. This slab is "ThinSlab" brand in the Calacatta pattern.

Hmm. Not sure how I feel about the way that looks. What do you guys think? Do you like the sink cutout?

Here is a link that might be useful: Lots of pictures here of ThinSlab in real applications

I think the thin profile could look really great with modern ultra-thin countertop edges. Curious to see what the polished finishes look like. I looked at Neolith and Deckton but didn't like the textured pseudo-matte finish at all.

[

[Modern Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Dallas Architects & Building Designers Stocker Hoesterey Montenegro

I could live with the farm sink or the microedge topmount sink pictured in those links but I agree that the thin counter around the undermount stainless is quite discordant and would bother me. That said, I don't know how many non-TKO persons would notice it.

I think that may be partially why my quote was so high, I wanted the sink cutout mitered also.

That thin countertop is cool!

I think most people would notice the thin edge on a fake marble slab countertop. It's like seeing the glue line on a toupee.

Use the CounterSeal method where you attach a ring of Corian to the sink to add depth to the cutout and seal it to the sink properly. It will look a lot less obtrusive in the white with white counters than the dark looks below. But, it does work for laminate or tile installations for those who want an undermount sink. It's just not that cheap of a solution.

Well, it sounds like they can mitre the sink cut out to carry on the illusion. However, you obviously cannot have anything other than a very tight radius, because you can't bend the edging material around a curve. So the countertop would always have a very modern vibe.

maximillion, i totally agree with your comment about the texture of neolith. we were so excited about the product but found the texture odd. i made the comment to my husband that it looked like painted drywall.

Thanks, AvatarWalt, for this super comprehensive review. We have researched many marble lookalikes and were seriously considering Neolith. But a rep hinted that it is mostly being used for outdoor kitchens, which makes me reluctant to take a risk.

Meanwhile, we have found two quartz contenders: Calacatta Nuvo by Caesarstone and Onixaa by Pental. Both are brand new to the US. The Pental showroom also had a cool "suede finish" (not honed) soapstone lookalike - will locate the sample and let you know the color.

I'm still unsure about the whole lookalike concept - I'm willing to go with real soapstone, concrete or even marble because I don't mind imperfections, but Mr. studiojr is insisting on quartz or something else as durable.

It reminds me of that Granite Transformation stuff that we have in our master shower. It's thin and simply granite dust mixed with some sort of polymer or something. If you want a thin countertop they could do it for you and I think they have more options now than when we had our master bath shower enclosure done a few years ago. It's an ok product it's just that I hate the color we were forced to go with since they had so few choices at the time. I'm pretty sure they have added a bunch now.

Another reason to simultaneously love and hate GW: love because I hadn't thought about the undermount sink issue; hate because now I have to think about the undermount sink issue!

I contacted the Neolith person who gave me my quote, and she confirmed that it's 12mm thick and the cutout is just the 12mm of depth. Since the pattern is on the surface, the edge would be a solid color. I guess that could be OK if it were the color of the sink, but I agree that it looks a bit odd in the photos to have a white, Saltine-thin edge around a stainless sink. On the bright side, for folks with back issues, it makes the base of the sink a bit higher.

After too many years with a countertop of 2 inch tiles with deteriorated grout that has to be vacuumed every time you slice a piece of bread (or do anything else) we're very much looking forward to an undermount sink where we can sweep everything in, but I guess counter-to-hand-to-sink isn't terribly burdensome--as with many of these decisions, it boils down to a personal evaluation of which sets of flaws/problems matter least.

Thanks for the reviews!

Maybe if you matched the sink color with the counter, the thickness issue wouldn't bother you. I'm not sure it looks bad. It's definitely different but is it actually bad?

I guess it's bad if you're trying to pass it off as real stone, but what if you're trying to pass it off as a giant tile?

This stuff really looks like a great option for a shower, although I personally prefer to skip the faux stone so I'll be looking at the less interesting colors. Groutless tile...seems like the perfect material!

This is really an interesting development. I always liked tile countertops except for the grout problems.
If you can build a better faux marble, the world will beat a path to your door.

This post was edited by Catharine442 on Thu, Oct 30, 14 at 1:42

A Neolith sink?

Timely thread for me to see as my husband and I are in the early interior selection choices for a custom home and we have several places where thin slab porcelain / sintered porcelain - stone might be appropriate. Thanks all! Particulary thanks to AvatarWalt for the bounty of information in your posts. I'll also add a link to a 'for professionals' page on the use of porcelain tile slab materials specifically in kitchens at the end of my post.

We are considering not only kitchen countertops, but bathroom counter tops and bathroom shower surrounds using different patterns for different applications. Something to keep in mind for countertop applications is you can only use a thin slab (some manufacturers say slim slab) in a mitered edge. So no eased edges if that's important to your design considerations. It is to ours and on that form meets function consideration alone we may take porcelain slab off the table for counters and keep it in the mix for backspashes and showers. Time and our interior designer will tell! :-)

Nowhere is "different strokes" more true than in what we choose for our homes and my husband and I are not particularly fans of some natural stones, like marble, or products that mimic those same stones as it feels a bit mausoleum to us. Just our personal response. But we do like other stones in some applications, like soapstone or non linear travertine, and so some of these thin slab products appeal to us and some don't on form alone.

As to function, we've used different kinds of porcelain tile in custom homes in kitchens and baths since as far back as 1993 when it was still 'newish' in residential use and options were limited and in every house and application from then to now porcelain tiles were extremely durable and easy to maintain.

We recently moved to the greater Boise area and to some extent emerging trend product, like thin slab procelain, is less easy to find to review in person than when we were within reach of Portland OR or San Francisco. But we did have a chance to see full slabs of the ThinSlab (brand name) product the other day and thought all three options in the Oregon Tile and Marble store were good looking as specific stones (statuary marble, calcutta and a linear veined travertine look alike).

Here is the pro link for use of slab porcelain in Kitchens which was written in Febuary of this year. http://www.forresidentialpros.com/article/11289660/porcelain-slab-countertops-offer-new-design-options

The tech behind this allows computer printing with multiple scenes so there can be a lot of different looking pieces before you get a repeat.
This is more important for smaller sizes used for flooring or backsplashes to match a slab.

Looked at neolith the other day. Close up most colors looked cheap to me. A melamine-like texture. The ones I did like were the matte ones with no texture. The thin profile 12mm works in a contemporary style kitchen but because it's porcelain it can't really be polished. You can only put a sealer on it to darken the edge so it better match the top. They didn't have a example for that all displays were mitered.

I went back to look at Neolith again and to look at the edge profile and sink cutouts, but also tend to agree with jdesign. The textured examples I saw had kind of a strange shine to the raised parts, which looked OK on the front of the yard's desk, but not on a horizontal surface.

Desk:
{{gwi:2140244}}

Countertop with shine and showing what the sink cutouts look like:
{{gwi:2140245}}

This is what the mitered edge profile looks like (not sure what color the counter is. It's a piece of Statuario sitting on top):
{{gwi:2140246}}

As jdesign said, the matte ones with no texture looked better, and I liked the Pulpis:
{{gwi:2140247}}

Have you got photos of your new Neolith kitchen worktop?

We're still in the middle of remodel, but I had such terrible service from the PNW retailer/fabricator of Neolith that I finally gave up on it and am planning on using Dekton instead. I don't like it as well, but at least I can see a slab to pick cabinet color and I'm more certain of good service on the fabrication.

Hi - might you have an update now on your countertops? I am also in the Seattle area and just visited Pental. While there, we saw the Lapitec and liked the look of it - we are considering using a solid color on counters with a more interesting natural stone on the island. Lapitec apparently comes in 12 mm or 30mm thickness. I do not have pricing on either one yet. Where did you get your Dekton from? I haven't look at that at all yet. Any thoughts about how you like your countertops and your fabricator experience would be appreciated.

Hi golden_gardens. I was looking at Dekton at the Cosentino showroom in Kent, and they had a list of fabricators. But just to torture myself, I went to 'visit' Neolith slabs when I was in LA for Thanksgiving, and, with the help of an excellent salesperson, I was put in contact with a different Neolith fabricator in Seattle, as the horrible one I'd been trying to work with (Precision Countertops in Kent) is no longer the only game in town. We don't have the counters in yet, but in terms of customer service, Marmo e Granito has been excellent. I called to see if they'd installed any Neolith, and they had me on my way to see a kitchen almost immediately and called to set up a visit to another one a few days later, and they've been great on a couple of visits to stare at and move templates around the slabs. If the end result is as good as their customer service, I'll be very happy indeed.

Thanks for reply. I may go down to Kent to see the Dekton. Do you have any sense of relative pricing on Dekton vs. Neolith? Are they comparable or not? We need probably 2 slabs of it for our perimeter counters. I am not married to anything yet so if one of the brands is less expensive and I can find a color I like, I'd just go with that.

Hi golden_gardens, and sorry for the slow reply. I'm not sure that I have an accurate sense of the relative prices of Dekton and Neolith. I got a Neolith proposal from the first place I went to in Oct. 2014 of $6,200. A year later they said the same layout would be just under $8,000. After getting fed up with that vendor/fabricator, I looked at Dekton Entzo and Sarey, and that proposal was almost $9,700. We ended up using a different Neolith fabricator who said we'd need three slabs rather than two in order to get the veining looking right, and that came in at a stomach-churning $14,000. I suggest that you be sure to look at the slabs, as I found some kinds of Neolith nicer than others, and I definitely liked the marble-colored Neolith better than the look and feel of Dekton, though your results may vary. Keep us posted!

@AvatarWalt First of all, thanks for all the great feedback regarding your Neolith experience thus far. We are also interested in Neolith for our South Lake Union condo and are having difficulty finding a supplier/installer (for the record, Precision no longer offers Neolith). Have your countertops been installed by Marmo e Granito yet? If so, are you happy with the installation? Did you also purchase your Neolith through them? Were you able to view and select the slabs personally? Looking forward to hearing from you! :)

@sweethardt, I'm very glad to hear that Precision no longer offers Neolith--they were a horrible representative for the product. Our counters are installed, and so far I'm very happy. Marmo was extremely helpful in arranging for me to see Neolith installed in the kitchens of two customers (ten months with Precision, nothing; ten minutes with Marmo and I had an appointment) and in letting me stop in to see the slabs and come by several times to stare at the templates and move them around with me. I bought the slabs from them--and there should be some good sized scraps left if you have a small kitchen!

I do wish they had the software that lets you move the template around on the slabs though, since in the back of my mind I still feel like, given the pattern-matching on Neolith slabs, we could've gotten all the bits to completely match up so it looked like one gargantuan slab. That being said, I'm not displeased with the way it DID turn out. I'm glad I took pictures of our first decision though, stared at them overnight, and went back to shift things around again, as we got a better result.

Let me know if you have any more questions, and I'm happy to let you take a look at our counters (Wallingford) once they're uncovered again.

Thank you for the quick response @AvatarWalt plus the invitation to view. Much appreciated! We currently live in San Francisco (albeit hubby is in Seattle Tuesday through Friday most weeks) and are moving up in June. We are planning to go with a solid colour in Arctic White, so no matching issues involved (our kitchen island is pretty massive). Will definitely reach out to Marmo for a quotation! Great to know that you had a good experience with them overall.

P.S. Which finish did you settle on? Looks like it comes in Satin, Silk or Polished, depending on the the thickness.

Anyone looked at this?

http://blog.stonepeakceramics.com/why-you-should-upgrade-to-a-porcelain-countertops/

What do you think?

Mostly considering this product for my shower walls in the walk in / curdles shower - HATE grout. LOL I think the 6 MM thickness requires a real pro to work with it correctly and get this embittered edges correct. And I wonder about shipping / transporting it to the jobsite, too. But - still think it's the right answer for my vertical applications (and have been focusing on Stonepeak) just not 100% sure about the counters.

@ sweethardt, I think the Calacatta only comes in polished or silk, and we have the silk. Catalog

Thanks!! :)

AvatarWalt, thanks for the pricing info. We found Lapitec at Pental and liked that - it is apparently similar to Dekton and Neolith. We have had good experience in the past with Pental down on Fidalgo, having bought our stone from them for the last kitchen. I don't have pricing yet for the Lapitec, in part bc I'm not yet sure how much I will need, but did get an installer list and our KD has worked with two of them in the past with good results. There are two thicknesses available and I am not sure yet which we will go with, and price may be a factor there too. We hope to use the Lapitec on the perimeter counters and a nice granite/natural stone on the island.

Reporting back that we have had Lapitec installed for about 3-4 weeks now. We ended up getting 3 cm because of large overhang on the peninsula. Unfortunately that overhang sent us into a 3rd slab. (We'll end up using the extra in a bathroom, rather than what we had originally planned.) We had a very good fabricator in our awesome contractor (Cornell's Quality Construction in Kirkland) who has his own shop and is certified through Pental for Lapitec installation. They did a very nice job, but I've been kicking myself that I forgot to ask for it to be flush around the sinks, and they did a negative reveal which is not my preference, especially if this stuff is prone to chipping. I have a big sink, so hopefully I can learn to keep things away from the edges. The first day, I whacked a baking sheet underneath the edge while washing it and it was fine, thank goodness.

We got "Bianco Polare" which is a plain white, satin finish. It looks lovely, but is not without issues. It is nice and smooth. It is cold, and maybe a bit noisier than granite. Of course being plain white every darn crumb shows. But what is frustrating about it is that it marks up. There are grey marks on it from aluminum pans being set down, from moving countertop appliances to wipe under them, etc. Those grey marks do not just wipe off. I can either rub them with my finger like an eraser, or use a scrub like Mrs Meyer's. So they do come off, but what a pain. This was not something I even thought to test when I was trying to damage the sample I had.

A friend of mine got Lapitec also - she got the glossy Lux finish, and the color is one of the lighter browns. She likes hers but says it always looks smudged unless she has just washed and dried it, which I think a glossy finish is prone to regardless. She has not commented on it marking up like mine does - maybe the Lux does not do that.

I am not sure I would get Lapitec again. But I'm not sure what I would get instead.

I do not like the look of stone or texture on my countertops. Crossville has a product called Laminam that comes in a variety of colors and textures including a stone look. The tile also comes in two thicknesses. I love the deep chocolate colors as well ass a deep black. I plan on using it in my next project.http://www.laminam.it/en/reference/laminam-2

I have Laminam Calce Antracite and Calce Tortora samples, 3"x6". Love how matte the finish looks. Each sample looks uniformly medium grey, respectively light grey, no matter the angle. No variation. On the other hand, photos of whole slabs that I've found on the web, look really smudgy and spotty to me. Sort of like oil spots on a garage floor ;-( I think the first pic in Debra Belton's comment above is the Calce Antracite. What gives? Looks like a totally different product from my samples.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's seen whole slabs of the Laminam Calce series IRL.