Each year, it seems design trends for both residential and commercial projects continue to evolve. While the beauty of natural stone is always an allure, over time, competitive materials continue to surface – providing more options for architects, designers and homeowners. First came engineered stone, and in more recent years, ultra-compact sintered stone products such as Dekton, Lapitec and Neolith. With the introduction of new materials comes a whole host of issues for fabricators. Everything from handling the material to how to cut and price it has to be researched and addressed. And now, the latest product to rise among the ranks is porcelain. While the material itself has been around for a long time, it is the large formats that are now being manufactured – enabling it to be used for countertops, shower walls and floor-to-ceiling fireplaces — that make it so enticing to those creating a design.

So what do fabricators need to know before embarking on this new trend? Industry veteran Ron Hannah of Cadenza Granite and Marble in Concord, NC, recently spoke to a group of fabricators attending an open house at Intermac’s Charlotte, NC-based facility this past fall. In his session entitled “What are ‘Large Format Porcelain Slabs’ and Why are they Suddenly the Talk of the Town?,” Hannah covered several key points that fabricators should consider before making the decision to offer porcelain slabs to their customers.