What is Travertine?

It may be apt at the beginning to describe travertine limestones in general. The name originates from the Italian 'travertino' and was originally a stone quarried in central Italy and used extensively by the Romans. Today they are quarried in many areas of the world. Travertine is calcite (calcium carbonate) deposited from solution and is, quite literally, full of holes.

Travertine stones are characterised by an amount of voids within the body of the stone and, as a result of this, they have very low density and compressive strength and this applies even to the high quality classical travertines. Although the faces are filled, usually with synthetic resin filler, there are always other voids just below the surface and these will eventually show as the floor wears, or the surface breaks down and voids appear. This is a characteristic of travertines and should be expected to some degree.

The picture shows what slabs of travertine look like in their natural state.

Travertine is usually used internally, both for domestic and commercial use.

Fixing Travertine Stones

British Standard BS5385 is the code of practice for fixing wall and floor tiles. Part 5 of the Standard refers to the fixing of natural stones. Solid bed fixing is important, as a heavily voided tile will collapse more readily if there is no support from below.

Your Tile Association fixer will be able to provide you with a quotation for fixing travertine tiles. Click here to find your local member