LOVE my honed and filled and sealed floors. I don't really have any scratches or etch marks but lots of dirt from shoes and drops. It sort of blends in but I do have to wash them occasionally. JUSt make sure you have the correct subfloor support for the floors or they will crack. THAT is very important esp in a redo. I will say that I could imagine the holes to get very dark compared to the lighter travertine if you went without honed. Not very pretty after a while as you could not get the dirt out and each wash would make it darker.

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?

In our recent backsplash experience with tumbled travertine marble tiles, we were told to use an enhancing sealer if we wanted the tile color to become more like the color they were when they were wet. The tile contractor put on the enhancing sealer before the grout and then a 2nd time after the grout. They changed to the color we wanted. I was told that if you do not want to change the color of your tiles, you can use a non-enhancing sealer. I would guess (check on this 1st) that if you like the color after the first application of enhancing sealer, you could use a regular sealer the second time.

I kinow this is an old post but curious to know if you were able to fix this problem or if you are still dealing with it? I came across this while searching for feedback on tumbled travertine around a pool.