Travertine tiles are an attractive addition to the home, complimenting a light and warm décor with practical application as either floor tiles or wall tiles. Homes with wide open spaces and homeowners with a taste for traditional-looking tiles and walls will certainly find this material attractive.
The mineral travertine is a sedimentary rock formed by carbonate materials, just like marble, in surfaced water and hot-springs, and because of its hard structure and old-world looking exterior, travertine has become a usable material for modern buildings. Because of the way travertine is created, special care must be taken by manufacturers when filing it down to a smooth surface because of how many air pockets are set in the stone. People can order travertine tiles as either filled or unfilled, depending on whether they want the rugged look of raw stone or a smoothed down and majestically reflective surface. When choosing the latter, a travertine tile can come in a wide range of colors: such as deep beige and royal gold. In fact, the richness of the stone’s natural color is one of the main reasons why people would select travertine tiles over other stone tiles, such as limestone or marble.
For smoothed down travertine tiles, there are many options to choose from that will decide what finish the tiles will have. The first finish to consider is polished, which is the shiniest and most reflective of the finishes. These types of tiles work great in the bathroom floor or wall, where they can be large in size to give a clean look, or kept small to be pieced together into a mosaic image. These tiles, usually sealed, are often slippery when wet, so care should be taken around them. However, for that type of tiling, most people who choose travertine mosaic tiles have them done with an honed finish, making the tiles have a smooth but not overly shiny texture that make them ideal for mosaic tiling. All travertine tiles are porous, and no matter how polished their finish, they should avoid colored spills as it can be absorbed by, and as a result can stain, the stone. Brushed and tumbled finishes are particularly susceptible to this, as they are the closest to the stone’s naturally porous state of all the finishes. Many people select either brushed or tumbled for patio or garden flooring for how naturally they fit in with the environment around them.
Travertine wall tiles are usually kept brushed and tumbled as well, as by gravity there will be little chance for staining to occur. Wall tiles specially made of travertine are selected to give your house a rustic and old-fashioned feel to it. The rougher stones are often chosen for tiling walls not just for the utility but also for that very feeling they can convey. Having these tiles on your wall will make that room seem cozier and more welcoming, and will give definite character to your home’s décor. If you want to invest in a unique and energetic type of tiling, travertine tiles are definitely the choice for you.