Countertop material families, as the manufacturers describe them

Engineered quartz

Engineered quartz is natural quartz bound with resins and pigments, and the stated quartz proportion differs by brand. Cambria describes pure natural quartz combined with pigments and binder. MSI describes Q Premium Natural Quartz as engineered from minerals, glass and resin and states it is 99.9 percent solid and nonporous. Wilsonart Quartz is described as natural quartz crystals with resin, polymers and pigments. LX Hausys states VIATERA is up to 93 percent quartz with polymers and pigments, and Architectural Surfaces states PentalQuartz is about 90 to 93 percent natural quartz depending on color. Daltile's ONE Quartz is natural quartz and resin that the page says needs no sealing.

Low-silica and mineral composite surfaces

Several brands now publish a reduced-silica format alongside their quartz. Caesarstone describes ICON as a patent-pending blend that eliminates crystalline silica, footnoted as possibly containing traces of less than one percent, and describes a phased transition of 19 quartz designs into that format. Wilsonart names low-silica styles under 40 percent crystalline silica. Daltile's Purevana page states crystalline silica both as as low as zero in some formulations and as less than 5 percent. Those are manufacturer statements about their own products, and the difference matters mainly to the people who cut the slab.

Solid surface and laminate

Solid surface is a cast mineral and acrylic sheet. Wilsonart describes natural minerals, acrylic resins and pigments in 30 and 60 inch widths and states that repairs are made by a certified fabricator. Corian Design publishes Corian Solid Surface through distributors and fabricators for the trade and through named retail channels for homeowners. Laminate is a pressed paper product: Wilsonart describes kraft paper with phenolic resin under melamine-treated decorative paper pressed at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit and over 1,000 psi, and names countertops as a best application. Formica describes its laminate as the original high-pressure laminate and its 180fx line as large-scale printed stone and woodgrain patterns. The ISFA publishes a solid surfacing performance standard, ISFA 2-01 (2013), as a separate document this draft has not read.

Porcelain and sintered stone

These are fired slabs rather than resin-bound ones, and they are the families whose own pages most often name outdoor use. Daltile states Panoramic Porcelain in 6 mm, 12 mm and 2 cm, with 12 mm and 2 cm for indoor and outdoor countertops, non-porous and needing no sealing. Laminam publishes ceramic slabs up to 1620 by 3240 mm from 2.2 mm to 20.5 mm and recommends its 12.5 mm and 20.5 mm products for kitchen worktops. Neolith describes sintered stone from natural raw materials, offers residential countertops in 12 mm and 20 mm, and states resistance to scratches, high temperatures and UV rays with an absorption level close to zero.

Natural stone

Natural stone is quarried rather than manufactured, so its behaviour follows the stone. MSI publishes granite in 2 cm, 3 cm and prefabricated form and recommends a penetrating sealer reapplied annually. Daltile publishes natural quartzite in 2 cm and 3 cm, says it should be sealed against stains, and strongly recommends professional fabrication. Architectural Surfaces publishes quartzite, marble, granite, travertine and soapstone slabs, and Polycor, a quarrier, lists the granite and marble stones it offers for kitchen countertops and sells cut and finished stone to fabricators rather than finished tops to homeowners. The Natural Stone Institute states that sealing makes stone more stain resistant rather than stain proof, that many stones do not need sealing, and that a food-preparation area should use a non-toxic sealer safe for food use.

What this guide does not settle

A family name is not a specification. Thickness, slab size, edge profile, seam placement, outdoor suitability for a particular product, certification of the slab that arrives, price, lead time and who fabricates and installs it are all decided on the quote, not here. Where two pages from the same brand disagree, this guide records both readings rather than choosing one.