Looking for Travertine tiles pros and cons? Travertine is one of the most popular natural stones used as a building material. Its appeal in architecture didn't just start recently; it has been so since several centuries ago.
For instance, the largest ancient amphitheater in the world, the Colosseum in Rome, was built with travertine. Despite being built between 70 – 80 AD, the building still stands today, showing how durable travertine can be as a building material.
In real estate today, it is not uncommon to see travertine being used as a flooring material for constructing walkways, patios, and interior floors.
For starters, its durability is more than enough reason to pique the interest of many homeowners. However, it offers a lot more than just durability.
If you came across travertine tiles while researching the best natural stone flooring to install in your home, you might wonder what is travertine tiles pros and cons.
Keep reading, as this article will help you learn all the pros and cons of travertine tiles that you need to know.
The Pros of Travertine Tiles
1. Aesthetics
One of the major pros homeowners will get when using travertine tiles is a timeless, beautiful floor. Travertine tiles are available in a variety of color schemes and designs, giving homeowners the flexibility of finding and picking whichever suits their taste and style.
It also allows them to optimize the look of each room in their home as they can easily opt for tiles that complement each room's decor. Typically, you can get travertine tiles in four finishes–polished, tumbled, honed, and brushed.
Each of these finishes can help create different looks in a room. For instance, polished travertine tiles are great for creating modern and elegant looks, while tumbled travertine tiles create traditional and rustic looks.
2. Durability
Durability has always been one of the main reasons people use natural stone as their flooring material.
Travertine has been used as the building material for different architectural designs throughout history – some of which are still standing today, which is a testament to the stone's impressive durability.
The scale used for measuring stone hardness, the Mohs Scale of Relative Mineral Hardness, ranks travertine between 4 and 5. For comparison, Slate has a ranking of 2.5 to 4, meaning that travertine is harder than it is.
As a flooring material, travertine holds up well against foot traffic and other abuses that floors pass through. Therefore, you can use travertine tiles in different places within and outside the home, and if properly maintained, they can last for centuries.
3. Value for Money
Travertine tiles are excellent flooring material for homeowners because it offers incredible value for money.
First of all, its extreme durability allows you to use the floor for several years without frequently incurring additional costs for repairs compared to other flooring materials.
But beyond durability, travertine tiles can increase your home's value and help you sell faster. Not many flooring materials in the market today can boast of the beauty and longevity that natural stones generally bring to a home.
As a result, many home buyers are willing to pay more to secure homes with natural stone flooring, such as travertine tiles.
Whether you are remodeling your home and are looking for ways to increase its value, or you want a great floor that would serve you well, travertine tiles will prove to be a worthwhile investment compared to many other flooring alternatives.
4. Resistant to Fire and Water Damage
Part of what makes travertine tiles durable is their natural ability to withstand fire and water.
That means that in addition to being a worthwhile investment that increases the value of your home, it is also a worthwhile investment that brings additional safety and security to your home.
The stone's ability to tolerate extreme heat and water makes it suitable for outdoor and indoor installations. With travertine tiles, you never need to worry about the scorching sun outside or spilled water in the kitchen damaging your floor.
5. Eco-Friendly
With increasing awareness about global warming and its effects on nature, many people opt for eco-friendly products for their homes.
One of the good things about using travertine tiles as the flooring material for your home is that you won't be damaging the environment since they are made from naturally occurring, ethically sourced travertine stone.
Unlike many of the flooring materials used in real estate today that will deteriorate at some point due to wear and tear, natural stones generally can survive for centuries and are recyclable.
The Cons of Travertine Tiles
1. Costly
While travertine tiles may not be the most expensive flooring material in the market, it is certainly not the best for people on a lean budget. Travertine tiles are often graded as premium, standard, and commercial.
Each of these grades comes with various offers and is priced differently. For instance, premium-grade travertine tiles come perfectly cut with carefully chosen colors and no holes, while the commercial-grade may come with cracked edges and small unfilled holes.
Depending on the grade, texture, and colors you opt for, you will probably spend more money buying travertine tiles than someone who opted for other flooring materials.
2. Difficult to Replace
One of the travertine tiles cons you need to be mindful of before installing it in your home is that it may be difficult for you to replace damaged titles.
Since travertine is a naturally occurring stone, the tiles come in various colors, veining, and shades that may not be identical. Typically, premium-grade travertine tiles have fewer variations and more uniformity than commercial-grade travertine tiles.
However, even if you install perfectly similar travertine tiles today and a tile gets damaged in the future, you may not be able to find an identical one to replace it.
In such a situation, you may replace the damaged tile with one that doesn't fit the overall design or be forced to replace the entire tiles.
3. Brittle
It's true that travertine tiles are durable and can last for centuries. But make no mistake, they are brittle and would crack or chip under certain circumstances.
That is a major con considering that it would be difficult or almost impossible to find an identical travertine tile to replace the damaged one. As a result, you need to be extra cautious when carrying sharp items or moving heavy objects around to avoid cracking the tiles.
4. Porous
Most travertine tiles come with a porous surface that easily absorbs liquids and dirt. Even though these holes are small, they can cause damage to the tiles over time when exposed to moisture and air.
Homeowners who want to avoid this con can purchase premium-grade travertine tiles whose holes have been filled by the manufacturers. However, they are much more expensive than other grades.
As a result, homeowners on a budget may purchase other grades of travertine tiles with holes and fill them by themselves.
5. Reactive to Acidic Substances
Travertine contains calcium carbonate, which is highly reactive to acidic substances, such as alcohol, vinegar, orange juice, etc.
For instance, if you installed travertine tiles in your kitchen and accidentally spilled tomato juice on the floor, the floor may retain stains due to the chemical reaction between the floor's calcium carbonate and the citric acid in tomato juice.
Polished travertine tiles offer better resistance but may stain when in contact with acidic substances for extended periods.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that travertine is arguably one of the best natural stones for flooring. It is highly durable, beautiful, and eco-friendly. Although it has some cons, such as being brittle and difficult to replace, bear in mind that these are common problems among natural stone floors.
If you were wondering what are travertine tiles pros and cons when you started reading this article, we hope we provided the insight you need to decide whether it is the right flooring for your home.