Travertine marble & limestone flooring - care and protection by Aldon Chemical

Travertine Limestone & Marble

Cleaning - Problem Solving - Protection - Care

travertine fireplace surround

Shellstone Travertine limestone or marble

travertine floor

A few of the many varieties of Travertine stones.

"Travertine Limestone" and "Travertine Marble" are the same stone. They are characterized by winding, irregular holes in the surface, with the flats finished to varying degrees of smoothness and reflectivity. "Shell Stone" is another type of this same material with shells imbedded.

There is no need for confusion or problems brought about by misidentification of a surface type, yet it happens all too often. If you would like to see why this is the case and how to properly identify a surfacing material ..... Click here
If you are concerned about doing it yourself - consider that the satisfaction of a project is directly related to your knowledge of what needs to be done and how. Who actually does the work is less important. We estimate that 25% of the usage of Aldon products is by "do it yourself" homeowners and we know they are happy because we hear from them.

MATERIAL DESCRIPTION - With Identifying Characteristics

Typical absorption range = low to medium

Testing your surfacing for absorption rate

Testing for acid sensitivity

Note this on your worksheet for later reference

Usually these are a limestone/marble type stone.
Wide range of colors and vein patterns.
A fairly hard stone that typically has holes and crevices.
Depending on the degree of factory polishing, the look and feel vary from non-reflective and a "warm/soft" touch to a high reflectivity and harder feeling finish. See the page on polished marble for more information on the highly polished stones.
Polished travertine: The holes and crevices are not polished, therefore, they will be a little more absorbent than the polished areas. Pick the sealer for the less absorbent areas so you do not have more gloss than desired.

ADVANTAGES TO THIS MATERIAL

The great variety of colors, patterns, and veining allow for a wide spectrum of design options.
Can provide a range of feeling from soft elegance to bold statement.

CONSIDERATIONS (All Are Preventable!)

(Click links for Aldon's solutions to these issues!)

This stone will etch from acidic liquids. To restore a surface harmed in this way, click here.
There are two installation techniques to consider.
- "Antique Fill" is where the grout is allowed to fill the holes. The grout can be colored as desired or natural gray.
- The other technique is to keep grout out of the holes to retain the "natural look" of the stone.
Both techniques are made much easier and less troublesome in clean up by using Aldon "Grout Easy". You do not want to have to use an acidic cleaner to remove grout scum residue, if possible, due to the risk of surface etching.
- To retain the "natural look" and keep grout out of the holes, use "Grout Easy" heavily and to somewhat fill the holes - then grout.
- For "Antique Fill", paint "Grout Easy" only on the flat areas - then grout.
Click here to see how Grout Easy works.

Following are recommendations for products you may need (in sequence of use ) for whichever of the categories applies to you. Please review each and mark your printed worksheet accordingly.

Layed, But Not Grouted

Grout Easy
Efflorescence            Treatment

Grout Residue
           Remover
(should not be needed after using Grout Easy)

Grouted, But Not Sealed

Grout Residue
           Remover

Efflorescence            Treatment

.............Sealer ( see below )

Lifeguard

Care ...........

Sealer Has Been Applied

Important! - First - Click here!

Premium Stripper

...........Cleaners   ?

...........Sealer ( see below )

Lifeguard

Care ..........

Regarding The Sealer Results Shown Below

Some travertine is polished to a high, reflective finish. A highly polished stone finish has unique criteria that limit choices in sealing.

It is usually desirable to not have an observable change to the factory finish (i.e. no gloss added).

These finishes cannot absorb sealers, but will stain.

The finish must be protected from oil borne, as well as, water borne stains.

An Aldon sealer does far more than just bead water and look pretty! To see what that is click here.

Your results may vary somewhat from these pictures due to variations in computer display and the surface materials themselves. Nevertheless, you will be able to see the differences well enough to make good choices. Different areas of the same piece are used as much as possible to minimize raw material variations. Of all the sealers Aldon manufactures, the ones shown are recommended as best suited to this surface type. (Important: If your project has had any sealer applied in the past, it must be evaluated differently. To see why, Click here!)

"Fine Stone Sealer" Water Based - Penetrating Type Recommended for finishes that have little or no absorption. Picture is Travertine Limestone/Marble	Sealed in one application. No change to gloss. No change to color. No change to appearance at all. Red arrow shows water drop spreading on unsealed left side. Yellow arrow shows water drop maintaining a high bead on the sealed side.
"Same Day Sealer" Water Based - Penetrating Type Recommended for finishes that have low to high absorption. Picture is Travertine Limestone/Marble	Sealed in one application. No change to gloss. No change to color. No change to appearance at all. Red arrow shows water drop spreading on unsealed right side. Yellow arrow shows water drop maintaining a high bead on the sealed side.
"S-B-S Sealer" Solvent Based - Penetrating Type Recommended for finishes that have low absorption Picture is Travertine Limestone/Marble	Sealed in one application. It is a low "matte" type gloss on this piece, but could be no gloss on a more absorbent piece and high gloss on a less absorbent piece. If gloss is too high for your goal, click here. Some color enhancement
"Porous Stone Sealer" Solvent Based - Penetrating Type Recommended for finishes that have medium to high absorption Picture is Travertine Limestone/Marble	Sealed in one application. High gloss on this stone. Strong color enhancement. High solids level provides some filling of holes. This filling will provide less dirt entrapment and easier cleaning.
"Crystal Glaze Sealer" Water Based - Coating Type Recommended for finishes that have low to high absorption Picture is Travertine Limestone/Marble	Sealed in one application. Medium gloss on this stone. No color enhancement. Coating provides some filling of holes. This filling will provide less dirt entrapment and easier cleaning.

**Other care products you might need for this surface type**
Insta-Clean	Maintain	Dust Whiz

* Note: will add another level of gloss to any of the above sealed surfaces.
It also prevents traffic wear to the sealers finish.

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