Travertine Tile:
For a truly imperial choice in natural stone tile, travertine tile is a building material fit for Caesar himself! The use of travertine tile in the ancient world, from the Greeks to the Roman Empire, is renowned. This is true particularly in the building of the famous Roman Coliseum, among other noted monuments to the reliability of this durable, decorative stone.Travertine is used as excellent flooring tile as well as wall cladding and pavement, noted for both durability and understated aesthetic influence in all manner of interiors. Travertine belongs to the larger family of stone called limestone also known as Calcium Carbonate. It is formed when subterranean water sources collect various mineral deposits over thousands of years which produce a smooth, porous stone that stands as an ideal building material for indoor and outdoor use. Travertine stones result from hot spring water penetrating up through underground limestone. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind layers of dissolved limestone and other minerals, giving it its banded appearance. The presence of travertine tiles lends every natural stone tile project an air of class, tying it to an architectural tradition that is thousands of years old.
Travertine can have four major finishes, polished (shiny), honed (matte), brushed and tumbled (textured surfaces). The type of finish given to the travertine will determine how shiny the surface will be. The polished and honed surfaces are flat and smooth, while the brushed and tumbled surfaces are flat and textured. The polished surface is the shiniest, while the tumbled surface reflects the least amount of light. The most common finish for travertine is honed.
Travertine is generally filled with grout before it is honed or polished, which produces a uniform surface more like other marbles. Unfilled travertine is also quite beautiful, and is often seen as exterior surfaces of buildings. Travertine stones are generally light-colored beiges and tans but have many other colors. The color of travertine is the result of iron compounds or other organic impurities.
Travertine is one of few stones that are less slippery when wet. There are a number of factors that should help explain the nature of “static co-efficient of friction” (SCOF) , which in layman’s terms is a description of the force required to move a stationary object in relation to the condition of the surface on which that object stands.
The SCOF tests have been traditionally done on dry surfaces because it was assumed that all flooring surfaces, when wet, would be significantly below the minimum suggested SCOF of .50. But, one of the environmental factors that can influence SCOF is wetness, the most common source of this being water. Just as a source of wetness can decrease an SCOF rating, some sealers can increase the SCOF rating of tile flooring. There are many “non-slip” coatings which can be applied to natural stone tiles that will increase its SCOF rating. Applying a “Non-slip” coating or sealer can raise the SCOF by .10 to .30 depending on the product. Regardless of the type of surface to be maintained, all travertine tiles should be protected with a sealer. Consult your local retailer to help you judge which types of sealers are most appropriate to your choice of travertine tiles. Sealers will provide some protection to the stone no matter what the environment, but knowing what it will be exposed to will help you decide whether travertine is a good fit for your project.
When considering travertine tiles for your project, keep in mind that many hotels, casinos, and shopping malls successfully use travertine in many different types of finishes. Given that the safety of their customers is of great concern to the owners and planners of these locations, their choice of travertine tiles these high traffic areas is a testament to how trustworthy travertine tiles are.
Caring for Travertine Surfaces:
Frequent sweeping is the easiest way to protect flooring surfaces. Soil is abrasive and it can get ground into and scratch stone. Use a broom with a bristle that matches your surface, a soft broom for smooth finishes and medium soft for textured surfaces. It is recommended for most smooth surfaces to use a damp mop with water which will pick up microscopic abrasive soils and potential staining agents. When using cleaning products: use a neutral cleaner, stone soap, or a mild liquid dishwashing detergent and warm water. Too much cleaner or soap may leave a film and cause streaks. Do not use products that contain lemon, vinegar or other acids on marble or limestone. Rinse the surface thoroughly after washing with the soap solution and dry with a soft cloth. Change the rinse water frequently. Do not use scouring powders or creams; these products contain abrasives that may scratch the surface.
Additional tips for keeping your stone tile looking like new:
- Blot up spills immediately.
- Always use coasters under drinks and food containers.
- Use a felt-bottomed tray for cosmetics and toiletries stored on the limestone surface.
- Use placemats under dishware and flatware to prevent scratching.
- Never use abrasive cleaners or scouring pads to clean the surface.
- Travertine and limestone are calcium based ALKALINE stones, and are susceptible to acid substances. NEVER use vinegar, lemon juice or cleaners containing acids.
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There are certain physical characteristics that are very important to insure an efficient and aesthetically pleasing finished product when you purchase natural stone flooring products:
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It is very important that each tile is squared. The smaller the grout line the more critical this issue becomes. As tile is manufactured from time to time the cutting lines get out of alignment and when this happens, the tile produced is no longer square but becomes slightly trapezoidal. This is a nightmare for the installer. It can result in repercussions ranging from additional installation charges to the absolute refusal of the installer to work with the stone.
Slightly less important is calibration. Calibration refers to the thickness of the tile…or more precisely the closeness of thickness that one tile has to the others. If floor tile is not properly calibrated and every piece is thicker or thinner than the last the installer must expend extra time and effort to level the surface of each tile relative to those around it. Otherwise the finished floor would have ridges sticking up where one tile meets the next. This issue can be of greater or lesser importance depending on the setting method. If you are setting the tile on concrete slab with thinset then the installer has a much smaller margin to work with to level and align each tile than if it is being set on a ¾ inch bed of setting mortar.
There are a number of common finishes. The most common are polished (a mirror shine), honed (a duller satin matte), flamed (a rough sandy texture) and brushed (a smooth dimpled matte finish surface with a texture very similar to the surface of a golf ball). Brushed finishes are often used when creating a “tumbled” style tile in combination with chipped edge and corner treatments. Of all of the finishes, highly polished finishes are the most critical followed by the honed finish.
Chipped Corners and Edges: |
Normally if you purchase any substantive quantity of tile there will be some small percentage of the tile that will arrive with a chipped or broken corner or perhaps even a broken tile or two. Question the credibility of any vendor who claims otherwise. Buyers should not become overly alarmed at the presence of a limited number of these tiles. Some plants will actually pack up to 3% in this condition at the time of manufacturing. This is still usable tile. When tile is set you start from the center of the room and work outward to the walls. When you reach the position to place the last tiles against the wall it almost always has to be cut to fit. Here is where you use tile that may have a chipped or broken corner or edge. If however more than 3%- 5% of the tile are in this condition you should have some concerns and bring the issue to the attention of the company from whom you bought the stone.
Things like fissures are in fact weak spots on the stone…but in recent years with the advent of epoxy and/or netting technologies which dramatically improve the strength of these stones, even these are becoming less of a problem….and in some stone types unavoidable. Natural stone floor tile is supposed to be just that…natural, varying, ever changing…as in nature. Remember, imperfection is the art and perfection of natural stone.
Some stone types, such as travertine, have naturally occurring hollow gas pockets created as the stone is formed in the ground. When sliced into tile, much like pieces of bread in a loaf, these hollow pockets are exposed as holes in the stone. In flooring applications it is necessary to fill these holes so they don’t collect dust and dirt creating sanitation issues. Travertine can be purchased either factory "filled" or "unfilled". The industry promotes the purchase of factory filled stone over unfilled. It is much less work and time consuming for an installer to work with factory filled stone than unfilled stone on any given installation. However, the problem with filled stone is that many (read most) factories use a very low grade fill material and do a very poor job of matching the color of the fill material to the stone itself. As a result the tile starts to look like it has the measles. When the installer grouts in the floor he simply pulls his grout trowel across the entire face of the stone filling in all of the holes. By matching the grout filling to the stone the fill then appears as if it is part of the stone rather than something imbedded in it. Buying unfilled stone and properly applying a high quality-matching fill generally will yield a better more aesthetically pleasing job when you are finished. Also available are very good epoxy based grouts. LATICRETE is an excellent source for this product. Epoxy based grouts are much more stain resistant, and provide additional structural integrity to the stone. The downside is that the epoxy grouts are more expensive and require more diligence and speed on the part of the installer. If the installer does not complete the removal process before the material starts to set up you can get a dull hazy appearance on the surface. If this occurs the installer will have to lightly resurface the floor. Additionally, grout shrinks as it dries. After the first grout application you will usually see a dimpled effect where the grout shrinks into the fill hole. Therefore plan on a second "skin" coat to bring the surfaces smooth if you are using an unfilled product. This should be reflected in the price of the material. The buyer is unable to inspect each tile prior to purchase so he will have to rely on his stone vendor to guide him.
Imperfection is the art and beauty of the material.
In summary, it is very important to buy a "mechanically correct" tile in a flooring application. Beyond that, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Variations like color range, veining, motion and striation are simply a matter of personal preference and the look, style and feel you are attempting to achieve. The more consistent and homogeneous a stone is, the more you should expect to spend.
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