natural stone/travertine tiles - maintenance?

andy_from_embsay

Hi - mrs andy has seen some natural stone tiles she'd like in our new bathroom/shower, but was wonderiung about the maintenance/cleaning of them - she's been told that they need sealing (and resealing?), plus yopu need special cleaning stuff.

Has anyone got these tiles? Are they worth the hassle?

Ta:D

ritesh

andy_from_embsay wrote: »

Hi - mrs andy has seen some natural stone tiles she'd like in our new bathroom/shower, but was wonderiung about the maintenance/cleaning of them - she's been told that they need sealing (and resealing?), plus yopu need special cleaning stuff.

Has anyone got these tiles? Are they worth the hassle?

Ta:D

Hi Andy from Embassy

Yes, they do need sealing and re-sealing (every year I think is about right). We were looking at travertine tiles for our kitchen but decided against them because they are susceptible to staining, despite being sealed plus they are not as strong as porcelain tiles, as demonstrated by a sales person in the shop who tried to demonstrate that they were indeed quite robust. To be honest we opted for porcelain tiles in the end as it was a safer bet all round.

ainsley80

You need to make sure with trav that you are buying GOOD quality. What tends to happen with the cheap stuff is that over a year or so, MANY more holes start to appear on the surface - and it gets worse.

This can be reduced by EVERY tile being backbuttered (as well as a trowel being run over the fixing surface - obviously) - but make sure you get in a pro (like myself!) to do the job - I've seen many a trav disaster over the years.

I know these http://www.stratastone.com/ import good quality trav - its all I use these days - ask for a guy name Grant Dollochin and say I gave you his name.

They are worth the trouble - they just need to be cared for. Sealed prior and following install (not your problem anyway, as tiler should do it!) and then once a year thereafter. Easy. They look fantastic when done. As long as they are sealed and installed correctly, you won't have any problems with staining etc.