Travertine Flooring: Pros and Cons

Homeowners searching for a beautiful and luxurious option for flooring often opt for travertine. Travertine flooring exhibits the natural depth and color of the stone and adds to the aesthetic value of a building or home. Travertine flooring has its advantages and disadvantages. Knowing your lifestyle, preferences, and needs is key to ensuring that travertine is the right choice for your home.

What is Travertine?

Travertine flooring is made from travertine, a kind of limestone that forms through mineral deposits, specifically in and around hot springs. Traveline limestone is composed of calcium carbonate, the same material, which makes stalactites and stalagmites.

Traveline tiles have been utilized for many years, not only for its toughness but also for its texture and looks. Like for instance, for Romans, built a lot of their notable buildings using travertine. A remarkable example is the Colosseum, a structure made largely from the material and has stayed as one of the most amazing and enduring landmarks in Italy. It is also considered one of the oldest buildings in the world.

Pros of Travertine Flooring

Durable and Tough

Travertine flooring is durable, and with enough care, it can last for a lot of years and maintain its look and beauty. When sold, usually the material displayed with a mark indicating its toughness on the MOH scale. As a whole, travertine registers 3-4 rating at the MOH scale, which is near or equivalent to that of marble. Provided that it is sealed, treaded as well as cared for, it is able to withstand regular foot traffic and a whole lot more.

Easy to Cut and Shape

These tiles are easy to cut and shape as they come from the family of limestone. They are easier to chisel when opposed to the marble or granite, which is very hard and difficult to chisel. Because of this factor, the Travertine flooring becomes cost-effective to have it set up. The professional who will do the cutting and the shaping of it don’t have to spend a lot of time on the Travertine floor tiles.

Add Aesthetic and Retail Value

Another remarkable feature of this flooring is the aesthetic and decorative value if offers. Travertine flooring is available in various colors such as white, ivory, beige, gold, reddish-brown, and many others. The color, which is a part of the Travertine flooring, is due to the minerals found in the stone. The higher the level of the minerals in it, the greater will be the shade added to it. Travertine flooring can also come in the same uniform color throughout or have a shade with different colored highlights to be found within. You can pick the best one based on your choice as well as decorative needs.

Easier to Install and Fix

As opposed to other types of flooring like marble, travertine is easy to installed and fixed. So, you are able to save lots of money and time in due course.

Eco-Friendly

Travertine is a kind of stone that is eco-friendly compared to other materials like porcelain. Since this type of flooring doesn’t need to go through the manufacturing process, it is a good choice for people who help save the environment.

Bold and Different

With travertine flooring, you are able to obtain a different and bold look in your offices or homes. It has an exceptional and diverse pattern that will add a good touch to a home or office interior design because it has natural veining.

Cons of Travertine Flooring

Prone to Damage and Stains

Travertine flooring is made out of natural limestone. Once it is not sealed, it can harm or stained by high-acid products as it is porous by nature. Travertine is alkaline and will react when it comes in contact with acids from foods and liquids. Also, it can be damaged in due course because of corrosion once cleaned using acid-base products. It is likely to be rather slippery when wet, once it is polished.

High End

This kind of flooring is also a high-end material and, as such, is likely to be priced at a premium. It is likely it can be costly as granite tiles or even more. Travertine flooring also behaves the same way as other natural stone materials in which it can break or chip and is susceptible to scratching. It is also heavy, specifically the bigger 12 by 12 tile units that can weigh as much as 2.5 kilograms. So, if you are in a tight budget, you may consider buying other types of flooring material. Even if it is easy to set-up and fixed, it does not change the reality that it is very costly and expensive.

Salt and Vinegar Can’t Be Used for Cleaning

Because of the harsh and acidic content of salt and vinegar, you are not able to use them for cleaning this type of flooring. The porous nature of this tile directly sucks up vinegar that will perhaps leave a long term stain in the flooring. So, you have to pay a bit more for a cleaning solution if you decide to install this kind of flooring.

Porous

This is perhaps the essential con of this flooring. This is likely to be very porous since it has lots of holes in it. So, it means it is easy to surface to wear and tear in due course. Even if the holes are small, they are easily noticeable, which can be a drawback for people who don’t like such looks. You must give this flooring a daily care for filing the holes. You have to spend more time taking good care of travertine. You can use powders, sealants as well as polishing products.

Conclusion

Travertine flooring needs regular care as well as maintenance and might not be the perfect choice in homes where there are children and pets if it is not sealed. Also, it is often used in the living room or patio areas and very rarely in the kitchen and bathroom.