Porcelain COUNTERTOP

The expert fabricators and installers of Countertops Express are specialized in dealing with both commercial and residential bathroom and kitchen.

Porcelain is a vitrified pottery material that can be opaque or somewhat translucent. Even though the first porcelain is claimed to have been produced during China’s Eastern Han Dynasty, the earliest versions, known as “primitive porcelain,” came into existence during the Shang Dynasty, over a millennium earlier. However, it’s only during the Tang dynasty, between the sixth and ninth centuries, that methods of porcelain making truly matured.

Porcelain is made from heating a mix of powdered china stone and white china clay, also known as kaolin, at about 1450°C. The high temperature causes the china stone to vitrify into a dense, highly durable material, while the object retains its shape thanks to the kaolin. Impurities such as silica, mineral oxides, and feldspars exist in the clay, but rather than detracting from the porcelain’s quality, they add to its strength and colour.

When porcelain slabs are manufactured for use in countertops, they’re coated with a pigmented glaze. This is to give them an aesthetic appeal similar to that of natural stone or even marble.