Tumbled Travertine

17 years ago

I'm deciding on tile for the floor and walls in my 5x7 bathroom. The travertine I'm interested in is tumbled travertine from HD. Is tumbled ok to use on a floor and walls in shower? The price is really attractive - about $3 sq/f for 6x6 tiles. (The 12x12s for the floor are aren't as inexpensive but my floor area is small - just under 25 sq/f.)

If it is ok to use, aesthetically what is better on the walls - 4x4s or 6x6s? HD has both sizes.

If it is not ok to use in my situation - does anyone have any brands I can ask HD for that would be a travertine look alike? The only ones I've seen in their 'off the shelf' section look like a really bad printing job - meaning you can see all the little dots.

Thanks so much!

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Comments (8)

floorman67
17 years ago
it's ok as long as it's installed properly.
mariainny
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi floorman67 - With the 4x4s and 6x6s - is one easier to install over the other? What about looks? Does one look better over the other? (My bathroom is small apartment bathroom, 5x7).

The person doing the tiling does not do this for a living however he does do bathrooms from start to finish on the side & has done so for several years. I will ask him if he has installed travertine before just to be sure. I do know he has mentioned to me that I use unsanded grout. Not sure if this is correct or not.

If for some reason his experience is only with ceramic - is there a big difference when installing tumbled travertine? Is it something he could learn easily if he's accustomed to installing ceramic tiles?
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rawdeal
17 years ago
Not sure where you live but you can have HD (or Expo) price out travertine tiles from their MS International (Marble systems) and Daltile catalogs (not sure if Daltile has tumbled travertine...I know for sure they have honed and filled...see their website). Crossville has some very nice travertine look-alike tiles (their Journey series) and these can be also be quoted (not sure if HD has access to this line...Expo does). Daltile also has some nice travertine look-alike tiles.

Hope this helps a little.
mariainny
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, rawdeal. I just saw the Daltile look alikes in HD this afternoon. They looked nice. I will check out your other suggestions as well. Thanks again!
chiefneil
17 years ago
For a shower floor, the 4x4 is probably better for getting a good slope. For the walls a larger size like a 12" would be better, unless you come up with an interesting design incorporating both the 4" and 6".

If your grout lines are less than 1/16" then you use unsanded, larger grout lines need sanded grout. With tumbled, the sizes aren't as exact as honed and polished, so it's unlikely you can get a 1/16" grout line. Make sure your guy does a proper pre-slope for the shower pan.
marge727
17 years ago
Is tumbled travertine good for a kitchen? It looks great in a bathroom but what happens in a room with more foot traffic and possible grease or oil stains?
ravlegend
16 years ago
Mariainny-

You have a HD SKU item number or name for this tumbled tile serie?
$3 sf seem liked a good price.

thanks.
liptonjl
15 years ago
We used honed and filled travertine for our bathroom floors and we used tumbled travertine for our kitchen backsplash and our whirlpool tub surround. Was extra to install b/c it is natural stone, but tile installer had no problem, said the same as the previous posters. Pics in my gallery under tile if interested..

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Gallery