Ceramic vs 4 Travertine tiles

[MarkG]

Hi, just had a wetroom done and I need some tiles. The ones that took our
fancy are actually honed and filled travertine tiles.

Not really had these before, and they will be going on the wall and floor
(and also on the floor in a ajoining porchway), is there anything I should
know about with regards to fitting them, and the longer term maintenance
of them?


Thanks!

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[A.Lee]

MarkG <m...@nospam.com> wrote:

> Hi, just had a wetroom done and I need some tiles. The ones that took our
> fancy are actually honed and filled travertine tiles.
>
> Not really had these before, and they will be going on the wall and floor
> (and also on the floor in a ajoining porchway), is there anything I should
> know about with regards to fitting them, and the longer term maintenance
> of them?

Travertine tiles.(the 30cm sq ones at Topps?)
Dont walk on them in high heels. They are pretty soft.
They are bastards to cut, 90%+ of cuts will require a wet cut, rather
than a score and snap.
They will need sealing before grouting otherwise the grout will be
absorbed into the surface, and you'll be cleaning them for days. Reseal
once they have been grouted. Reseal every year or so.
I dont think they are the best option for floors, and as it happens, I'm
doing them on a bathroom floor this week, and I questioned the customer
if they were sure they wanted these for the floor. But they do.
Great on walls, I have them on my bathroom, and look great.
Bastards to cut though.
Oh, they are hard to cut, if I hadnt already said. (well, the tiles are
not actually hard, they are just too soft, and break easily)

Alan.
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[Phil L]

MarkG wrote:
> Hi, just had a wetroom done and I need some tiles. The ones that
> took our fancy are actually honed and filled travertine tiles.
>
> Not really had these before, and they will be going on the wall and
> floor (and also on the floor in a ajoining porchway), is there
> anything I should know about with regards to fitting them, and the
> longer term maintenance of them?

Walls - yes.
Floors - no.

The filler they use isn't as hard as the tiles and it breaks up if anyone
walks on them in stilletoes or football studs, also, it discolours easily

[djc]

On 24/10/11 19:34, MarkG wrote:
> Hi, just had a wetroom done and I need some tiles. The ones that took
> our fancy are actually honed and filled travertine tiles.
>
> Not really had these before, and they will be going on the wall and
> floor (and also on the floor in a ajoining porchway), is there anything
> I should know about with regards to fitting them, and the longer term
> maintenance of them?

Not a good choice for a floor, especially in wetroom. If they are highly
polished they will slip, if not polished they will trap dirt.


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djc

[John Rumm]

On 24/10/2011 19:34, MarkG wrote:
> Hi, just had a wetroom done and I need some tiles. The ones that took
> our fancy are actually honed and filled travertine tiles.
>
> Not really had these before, and they will be going on the wall and
> floor (and also on the floor in a ajoining porchway), is there anything
> I should know about with regards to fitting them, and the longer term
> maintenance of them?

Three things to keep in mind about travertine...

They a re soft, porous, and a PITA to cut... other than that they are fine!

The implications are, you need to make sure they are very well bedded
onto a good layer of adhesive on floors, else the corners will crack
under foot load.

If used for a shower etc, they must be sealed otherwise they will allow
water to penetrate. (For the same reason it is also impossible to get a
good seal with silicone against an untreated tile since the water is
absorbed through the tile and will soon displace the silicone seal.

You can't score and snap them. You need a wheel tile cutter - either a
wet one (large if these are 12" square), or you can get good results
with a decent Norton continuous rim diamond disk in a small angle
grinder, used against a straight edge (outside!)


--
Cheers,

John.

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[harry]

Travertine is a natural stone that is riddled with small holes. (Tufa
is another form with even more holes )They saw the rock, fill the
holes and polish. The rock is very hard but the filler may be shit.
Most comes from Spain and Italy. Hard water evsporates leaving the
rock so it's justl imescale really!
The best filler is epoxy resin but not often seen.
The problem is that unfilled voids just beneath the surface may
collapse and leave holes.
IME you need to cut with a diamond disk & even then quite hard going
with a cheapie. They have to be sealed, once the muck gets in near
impossible to remove.

Most of the "pattern" you see is actually the filler.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <op.v3vcj4knxafqef@desktop64>,

MarkG <m...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Hi, just had a wetroom done and I need some tiles. The ones that took
> our fancy are actually honed and filled travertine tiles.

> Not really had these before, and they will be going on the wall and
> floor (and also on the floor in a ajoining porchway), is there
> anything I should know about with regards to fitting them, and the
> longer term maintenance of them?

They are marble, so soft and porous. They will need to be sealed after
fitting.

A decent wet tile cutter is a must.

The floor will obviously have to have no movement, or they'll crack.

Unless a purist, I'd go for travertine lookalikes in porcelain.

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Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
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