What is Travertine?
The name originates from the Italian ‘travertino’ and was originally a stone quarried in central Italy and used extensively by the Romans. Today they are quarried in many areas of the world. Travertine is calcite (calcium carbonate) deposited from solution and is, quite literally, full of holes.
How is it formed?
Travertine stones are characterised by an amount of voids within the body of the stone and, as a result of this, they have very low density and compressive strength and this applies even to the high quality classical travertines. Although the faces are filled, usually with synthetic resin filler, there are always other voids just below the surface and these will eventually show as the floor wears, or the surface breaks down and voids appear. This is a characteristic of travertines and should be expected to some degree.
What does it look like?
Travertine comes in many different colours including ivory, beige, walnut, noce, and gold. The colour of travertine is the result of iron compounds or other organic impurities.
Travertine can have four major finishes, polished (shiny), honed (matte), brushed and tumbled (textured surfaces). The type of finish given to the travertine will determine how shiny the surface will be. The polished and honed surfaces are flat and smooth, while the brushed and tumbled surfaces are flat and textured. The polished surface is the shiniest, while the tumbled surface reflects the least amount of light. The most common finish for travertine is honed.
