Travertine

Travertine is a natural stone made of soft rocks, similar in characteristics to marble. This material is extremely popular in finishing works – it can be used both inside (travertine flooring) and outside the premises. The Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican were built from it in their time. Nowadays, travertine is used in facade finishing, providing high strength and wear resistance.

Types and properties of travertine

Travertine finishing involves the use of natural and artificial stone. The second option is a composition of natural material crumbs mixed with resin and glue. It is supplied in liquid, tile and decorative form. Liquid is used in interiors with stone, applied to the surface, after which it dries quickly. Travertine tiles are easy to cut, have proven themselves to be excellent when laid in the bathroom, providing resistance to fracture. The decorative format is considered a type of plaster, suggesting use as decoration and as cladding.

The composition of the stone includes minerals, calcium polycarbonate and organic matter. The density level of the material depends on the place of its formation - waterfalls or groundwater. Other features are as follows:

• the shade of the stone can change due to the influence of weather - this must be taken into account when choosing wall tiles for exterior decoration;
• the structure can have shells and algae, as well as pores from gas bubbles;
• stone tiles are very light in weight, which is of great importance during transportation and installation work. The material absorbs moisture very poorly, which makes it popular in exterior finishing work.

Laying Travertine: How to Prepare Stone and Glue

Installing tiles on a vertical surface is not an easy task. To get an effective result, you should have certain materials and adhere to the rules of installation technologies. Much attention is paid to preparing the base in the following order:

• cleaning and leveling the surface to be treated - the old coating is removed from it, cracks and irregularities are rubbed down;
• installing a support - it is needed for laying the stone in the first row, for this purpose metal corners are used, fixed from below; the width of the support should be less than the width of the facing tile;
• priming - a composition with deep penetration indicators is selected, after processing with which the installation on the facade will be as strong as possible;
• preparing glue for stone - it is advisable to choose a brand recommended by the tile manufacturer to ensure high-quality adhesive properties.

Before tiling, you need to select and sort the stone. If necessary, you can polish travertine with subsequent treatment with acrylic paint or varnish. Also, craftsmen recommend drawing up an installation diagram, having previously done a "dry laying" on the floor. The adhesive is applied locally to the wall segment where one tile is planned to be laid.

The process of laying travertine tiles

The installation stage involves laying the material from the bottom up. Each element is pressed into the glue with a rotating motion, compacting it with a rubber mallet. Excess glue is removed immediately. Then, decorative laying involves the following actions:

• leveling the material - use a level and square, if necessary, remove the tile and lay it again before the glue dries;
• grouting the seams - allowed only after the glue has completely hardened, use a specialized mixture and a mounting gun, laying without seams requires tight contact between the sides of the material;
• finishing - includes cleaning off excess glue, drops of concrete; special compounds are used that do not affect the color and texture of the stone.

Despite the increased resistance to moisture, working with travertine in frost, heat or rain is prohibited. Otherwise, if you have certain skills, you can handle such work yourself.