Whether in food, textiles, accessories, or the construction and fitting out of housing, natural materials have been in increasing demand in recent years. For the house, wood, straw, cork or even natural stones are thus part of these very popular natural materials. In this last category, we find in particular limestone, marble, granite, but also travertine. Focus on the latter: so what is Travertine tile? How is this material used, in which rooms? What are its strengths and weaknesses?
To learn more about Travertine tile, go below.
What is Travertine Tile?
Travertine tile is a natural stone that forms around mineral spring deposits, especially in limestone caves or hot springs. Today, there are many travertine quarries in Turkey, which also exports it around the world.
This sedimentary rock consists of small cavities, which are the result of the escape into the mixture of carbon dioxide or bubbles of carbon dioxide. It is thus according to the porosity and the size of the pores composing it that the density of the material varies.
How and where to use travertine?
Today, travertine is use both outside and inside in all rooms of the home, thanks in particular to its availability in several formats, colors and finishes. It is used as much on the floor as on the walls, from the living room to the bathroom.
In living rooms, large formats of travertine are recommend, while small formats and mosaics are recommend for bathrooms or shower rooms, for example. As for the intermediate formats , it is in the bedrooms that we find them.
Widely used as a flooring material both indoors and outdoors, it is mostly sold in the form of tiles. Travertine is also found in a wide range of colors: brown, gray, white, beige, yellowish, or even reddish.
The material is also use for copings or pool decks, or even in bathrooms for basins, as well as shower trays and trays.
Travertine was particularly used for the construction of the most beautiful and impressive monuments of Ancient Rome. We find them in the majority of the basilica churches, but also at the theater of Marcellus or at the Colosseum in Rome.
What are the strengths of travertine?
To explain the increasing use of travertine in private homes, we can talk about the different strengths of the material.
Thanks to its age and ancient style, travertine is an elegant building material. Subtle and discreet at the same time, it brings a certain cachet to the room, all in a natural style. It immediately makes the piece unique.
In addition, very aesthetic, travertine is available in several colors, finishes, but also in different formats. Thanks to this wide range available, the material can adapt to a large number of surfaces.
Another significant advantage of travertine is its ease of installation and maintenance. Indeed, it is generally sufficient to use a non-abrasive household product for the stone such as black soap, to keep the latter clean.
The resistance of travertine is also a strong point: it indeed resists not only blows of all kinds, but also various climatic conditions. The material is also known for its resistance to cold and frost, in other words to be frost-proof.
Finally, travertine constructions are know to have a long lifespan, as long as the material is well maintain. No doubt they will last several decades without worries.
What are the weak points of Travertine tile?
If travertine has strong points, like all materials it also has weak points.
First, with travertine it is possible that the covered surface is not identical from one end to the other : for example, the tiling of a bathroom made of bolster may not be completely uniform.
However, this is the main characteristic of a natural stone, so this is normal. It is therefore advisable to use another material if you want a perfectly uniform finish.
Another disadvantage of travertine can be its price. Indeed, the price per square meter of this material is substantial: installing a bolster at home can therefore represent a certain budget. However, it is a real investment, which will last over time.
Finally, widely use in Italy for the construction of historical monuments, travertine is found today in many private homes.
Can be use both indoors and outdoors, this natural stone found at mineral springs has several strengths. Among them, its elegant and aesthetic rendering, in particular thanks to the wide range (in terms of formats, colors, finishes) of material available, but also its ease of installation and maintenance which allow the material to be use on various surfaces? It also seduces thanks to its frost-resistant character, its resistance to impacts and its durability.
