by Homesinstone
What is Travertine and where does it come from?
Travertine is a sedimentary rock and a concentrated form of Calcium Carbonate. A derivative of Limestone, it is white in colour when pure but due to impurities, travertine colours range from pale cream to dark silver, red and brown colours.
As the Travertine is formed when gases mix with dissolving Limestone, pitted holes and cavities occur, which is a characteristic of the rock.
It is usually mined from mineral springs in Italy, Turkey and Mexico.
What and where is Travertine used?
Nowadays, it is mainly used for wall cladding and as a flooring material. It was largely used by the Romans; the coliseum is made mostly out of Travertine.
Types, finishes and colours of Travertine?
Travertine tiles come in lots of finishes and colours. Usually, tiles are either "Vein" or "Cross" cut when they are machined in the factory.
"Vein" cut tiles will have more prominent markings than "Cross" cut tiles, which usually have minimal variation.
Travertine tiles come in Tumbled, Brushed and Honed and Filled finishes.
Tumbled tiles are essentially moved around in a machine to round off the edges to give an aged and worn appearance and are usually unfilled. Suitable anywhere in the domestic environment.
Brushed tiles are more rustic in appearance and have a textured feel to them and are usually left unfilled. Suitable anywhere in the domestic environment.
Honed & filled tiles have the cavities resin filled and finished to either a smooth matt finish. Suitable anywhere in the domestic environment.
Polished - After filling and honing, the tiles are polished to a high finish. Suitable anywhere in the domestic environment except in Bathrooms and places where liquid is likely to be present.
Colours range from very light Cream/Beige, almost white, to yellow, red, brown and silvery grey.
Quality and filling
There are varying grades of Travertine, which are generally 1st and standard grade. Grades are distinguishable by the variation in colours of the tiles, the size of the natural cavities and also the resin used in the filling process.
As a rule of thumb, 1st grade tiles will have minimal variation in colour, smallish cavities and filled with a hard wearing, colour matching resin.
Standard grade tiles usually have a lot of colour variation, fairly large cavities and perhaps a resin filling which doesn't blend in with the natural colour of the tile.
All Natural stone will have some variation in colour and texture
Be mindful, all filled Travertine's regardless of quality will get some filling drop out with time and heavy foot traffic, this isnt a fault with the manufacturing process. To remedy this, a repair with normal tile grout will be suitable and sufficient.
