Durable Engineered Stone

What's the most durable surface in the world? A countertop made of diamonds probably. The next best surface material might be quartzite, but just beneath that is a man made substance called engineered stone.

Companies such as Caesarstone, LG, Silestone, and Cambria Stone are adept at producing an incredibly hard and impermeable surface that the industry generalizes as "engineered stone". This countertop material is made of real stone that is ground down and combined in pleasing and predictable color palettes with a polymer that binds it together.

The lure of engineered stone is it's durability, combined with the fact that every slab can look the same, allowing for great seam matching and easy color schemes for decorating. Many engineered stones are resistant to bacteria, and come sealed forever so that re-sealing is not an issue. The wide variety of colors, including bright hues of green from Caesarstone, as well as realistic simulated granite patterns from Cambria Stone, make the concept even more attractive.

In the fabrication shops, fabricators will attest for the solid nature of engineered stone. When being fabricated, these materials rarely break in unpredictable ways like granite can. Granite and marble, being formed by nature, sometimes have fissures between crystals that can come apart when under the extreme pressures of fabrication. Engineered stone stays together under conditions that would often see a natural stone break.

The only drawback to engineered stone slabs is the one attribute that also attracts homeowners: it's predictable colors and patterns. A slab of granite is like a work of art, often beautiful enough to frame and place as a wall decoration with it's strata and movement. Granite's spontaneous colors and wandering patterns won't be found in engineered stone, but for many designs that works out well.

Find engineered stone as well as natural stone at www.nssgranite.com or visit us in person at 425 N. Frontage Rd. in Nipomo California, 93444.