7 Best Uses For Travertine
What is Travertine?
Before we get to the point of this article (sharing the best 7 uses for Travertine Natural Stone Pavers), lets first have a look at Travertine and its main properties as a natural stone.
Formed beneath hot springs over the span of millions of years, travertine is a calcite based natural stone. The natural pits and crevices you see on the surface of travertine pavers are formed when the heated water shoots up to the surface of the stone, giving it the character we see today.
Throughout history, travertine stone pavers have been the preferred material for everything from creating works of art to building structures of majesty and grandeur. Actually, “The Colosseum” (Coliseum) is one of the many famous structures built using Travertine stone pavers.
As highlighted from the information above not only is travertine a beautiful stone, it is also durable, safe and practical, and able to withstand the test of time: all of which are important characteristics you must consider when choosing the best natural stone paver for your home or backyard.
Additionally, travertine is conveniently available in a range of colours, sizes and finishes. Ranging from subtle cool grey tones to striking ivory and even light earthy brown/milky coffee tones, there really is something for everyone. Thanks to its formation, no two travertine pavers look alike, which is what gives the stone its strong character with unique veining and pits throughout. Whether they are cross or vein cut, installers love working with travertine pavers. Here are the differences:
Vein Cut – The Travertine is cut in such a way that all the veins move in one direction. This cut is mainly used for feature walls.
Cross Cut – Here the Travertine is cut in a way where fewer veins are visible and the surface is smoother with less pits. This is more commonly used for flooring and paving.
So now that you know what Travertine is, how its formed and the colours and cuts its available in, let’s check out the 7 best uses for it around your home and garden.
1. Travertine Tiles for Indoors & Bathrooms
Travertine’s warm, elegant, unique and timeless character make it a sure choice for installing in living rooms and bathrooms. Available in a wide range of beautiful colours and large square tiles sizes of 600x600mm, installing Travertine indoors will give your floors and walls an instant majestic touch.
Travertine tiles are mainly installed as bathroom walls and floors, and in kitchens and living rooms as floors. There are a variety of finishes we recommend when installing travertine tiles indoors. These include honed, polished or tumbled. Here are the differences:
Honed – This is a “matte” finish where the travertine looks smooth, clean and elegant but not shiny.
Polished – This finish gives travertine a beautiful shine (kinda self-explanatory isn’t it). The only downfall with this finish is that it becomes very slippery in wet areas or during spills.
Tumbled – When the travertine has this finish, its edges are unevenly chipped and the surface is somewhat scratched. If you are looking to install travertine pavers in an area where you want to increase slip resistance, a tumbled finish is ideal. Due to its already chipped appearance, installing a tumbled finish travertine paver is easier for the installer because they don’t need to worry about accidentally chipping the edges when they lay the stones.
We’ve seen countless bathrooms, living rooms and kitchens in this material and it really is an other-worldly feeling.
2. Travertine Paving for the Outdoors
Travertine pavers provide a practical and versatile option for your outdoor entertaining area making them a popular choice amongst Australian homeowners and installers alike. If you do choose to install them outdoors, we strongly recommend investing in the tumbled finish pavers. This way you get that raw and rustic aesthetic that helps mask any unwanted dirt and gives you a chance to enjoy yourself without constantly worrying about cleaning and maintaining your floors.
Amongst the above benefits, Travertine pavers are also relatively cost-effective (for a natural stone paver). For these reasons, Travertine may be the right solution for your outdoor project.
Cinnamon Travertine Pavers available at Armstone
Whether you are creating a backyard feature out of stepping stones or using stepping stones to direct visitors around your home (and protect your lawn), Travertine pavers are an ideal natural stone paver for this.
With Travertine stepping stones available in a range of sizes – from larger formats of 800x400mm blocks or smaller sizes of 600×400 or 400×400 blocks – there is something for any project. Whether you choose to line them up symmetrically or mix and match the sizes to create something unique – there is something to accommodate all tastes!
We do recommend installing the stepping stones at a distance of 45cm from the centre of one stepping stone to the centre of the next as the normal adult stride is typically 45 cm.
Leggero Stepping Stones available at Armstone
4. Step Treads and Capping
If you like consistency when working on your projects, then you would love to know that Travertine is available in various formats that help you complete your project with the right tread or capping. For instance, Travertine is available as Bullnose (round edge), Pencil Edge (square edge) and Drop Edge (stone-slab look) formats. You can install these as a stair entrances to your home or as capping to give a finishing touch to a feature wall.
Regardless of what you do, all three finishes provide a beautiful, safe and lavish finish to your Travertine home project.
Leggero Travertine Step Treads available at Armstone
5. Kitchen Benchtop or Barbeque Top
Another popular use for Travertine is for kitchen bench-tops. These can be installed indoors or outdoors and are available in full-size stone slabs of either 3000x1600x20mm or 3000x1600x30mm and make a beautiful feature in your home or garden.
6. Fireplace Hearth or Mantle Piece
Have a fireplace at home? Travertine’s natural tones and exuding character will add a world of warmth and beauty to any fireplace mantle or hearth.
If you love the look of The Colosseum in Rome, why not build a feature wall in your back or front yard that looks just like it?
You see, travertine is perfect for wall cladding because you can literally recreate historic walls and really bring your outdoor space to life. The wide range of options means you can create something unique and complete it with Travertine capping to match!
Our Final Thoughts on Travertine Pavers
When all is said and done, there is a reason why stonemasons have used Travertine stone pavers for thousands of years. Travertine is durable, beautiful, majestic and full of character and warmth. It’s also versatile which means it can be used for different purposes.
So if you’re looking for an earthy natural stone paver that brings warmth to your home and will stand the test of time, check out Travertine. It just may be the ideal stone for you.
And in case you want more information and aren’t sure if this is the best stone for your home or garden, reach out to our stone experts online or at 1300 560 560. We have over 10 years experience with helping people like you choose the best natural stone paver to transform their house into their home.
We also love this stuff.
And would love to help you too.
