Yep, I understand, but I'm not that crazy about the look of it.

Any suggestions for something similar but not *quite* so pitted?

We are using travertine for our decking and for the top of our BBQ island. On the island, the builder is filling any large holes with grout so we get a smooth surface. I'm not sure if this would work for decking, but it may be an option.

What about brick pavers? There are lots of option with them and they don't have the rough look of travertine. They have a more formal look the the travertine and the color options and shapes are almost endless. Also, if you hire a good contractor you can do some pretty cool stuff with concrete.

My deck is travertine and I chose it because I wanted an old-world type of look. I like its earthy quality but can understand why the rough look of it would not be for everyone. The worst surface I ever had was on my last pool which was a product called cool deck.

Thanks, guys. To be honest, I'll probably end up going with Travertine. I don't totally love the look, but it's probably the best stuff for a pool deck. Besides, I'll get used to whatever we get. I just wanted to check on any other options first, just in case. :-)

We have tumbled travertine, set on a thin layer of sand, and love it. We remodeled our pool last summer. Yes there are holes, its not completely full of holes. Some pieces were bad and the tile guy avoided them....they tended to be the very small ones, the 8x8's. Remember there is a good side and a "bad" side". We used the french pattern, with 4 different size pieces. The chiselled edge 9x6 travertine seemed to have more holes in it when we looked at it. I did fill some of the holes with grout. It wasnt a big deal....I mixed a few left over grout colors together at different times and walked around and filled some areas....ok, maybe a lot of areas, but you cant tell. They filled all the holes with grout on the coping, because each piece of coping had a grout line between the next piece. The guy thought it would look more uniformed to smear the grout across all the coping rather than just try to fill the grout line between each piece. The travertine has never gotten hot, we are in Florida, and it is not at all slippery . We sealed it with an enhancer and just love the color. Best part is, it will never fade like pavers can. Another product I considered was Artistic Pavers Shellock. If I remember correctly they have 3 varieties, there was a textured pattern I liked, but decided on the travertine.

We did do a honed chisseled edge travertine (in the same french pattern) by our front door, its thinset down and does get slippery when wet. A neighbor (without kids) did this around their pool and its beautiful but slippery. IMO, too slippery around a pool.

gk--
We debated Travertine vs. Artistic Pavers (Shellock) and are going with the Shellock...but your pool is gorgeous. Can I ask what material you used for your bar area top? We are building a bar only (not cooking island) and are agonizing over materials...think we may actually build the bar top out of the shellock pavers if we don't see anything else we like...

We used granite for the bar top. I liked one continuous surface. I didnt want tile with grout lines for a counter top, just never liked the look and I figured the grout might get grease on it and always look dirty. The bar is always dirty!!! With pollen, etc. I am glad I have a smooth surface that wipes clean very easily. Our bar guy was pushing the tile, he showed us many pretty pictures, but I really wanted something that wasnt busy. One thing about the granite is watch how dark you go, if its in the sun, it will get hot!!!! I believe our color is keywest. This is the only pic I have of the top that is loaded on photobucket. Hope this helps.

What exactly *is* the difference between the chiseled and tumbled edge travertine?

I think I like the french pattern travertine best. I'm guessing it's the most expensive, right?

I've read in a few places that Travertine might be better off when NOT sealed (at least around the pool, anyway). Anyone here not seal their Travertine?

I did not seal mine, but I would if I could find one that would last more then a year in the South Florida sun. The travertine does look much better sealed then not sealed, but I don't know if that's something I want to do every year. I have about 2300 sqft of deck. Someone did recommend a product to me that supposedly worked for up to 5 years, but when I did the research it was really engineered for concrete and they could provide no references of it being used on travertine. If you find something please post it.

If you find something please post it.

Will do.

Kitchenshock, who built your pool?

Ok, I somehow lost my post flipping back and forth searching for travertine. So here we go again, I found the search of the chiseled edge. Search for the post "Redoing product like Pebble Sheen". Its Chiefneil's pool. She posted on June 25, 07. At least I think that is a chiseled edge travertine.

The Jimbars pool is travertine that is not sealed...at least I dont think they sealed it.

Tumbled travertine is put into a hugh vat and the stone is tumbled with pebbles. The edges are smooth and rounded, some corners are really rounded. Because of being tumbled not every piece is the perfect size, you can tell where some tumbled too much. The chiseled edge is chipped off. Our front porch is a chiseled edge, but we filled the edges with grout, so you can hardly tell. Our porch travertine was only a 1/2 inch thick and had to be set in thinset, you cant walk on it set in sand, it would break. The thick travertine chiseled edge (set in sand) might be too sharp for around a pool. Its more rustic looking and might be better suited for a patio or walk where you are not barefoot, but that is just my opinion. I am sure there are pools out there with the chiseled edge.

This weekend we were at our neighborhood picnic and one of our sponsors claimed to have a product to seal travertine and concrete pavers that lasts 5 years. He didnt know the name of it...figures. The sealer we used had to be redone this spring. It simply faded away to the chalky look where the deck is in the hot sun. That might have been because the stone was never sealed before. I resealed it (only the area outside the lanai, probaby 800 sq ft) and so far it looks great, but its only been a month. The real test will be this summer. I might have to reseal or re-enhance this area once a year...if I want to keep the rich look. I happen to prefer the enhanced look but its not necessary to seal it. You do have to make sure the product wont make it slippery. A neighbor had hers sealed and it was slippery. (I havent seen it since it was first completed) Sealing it is a labor intensive job. Only time will tell. The enhancer was not cheap, about $190 a gallon!

gk5040, I know I said the before but seeing the pictures again, your pool remodel looks incredible. What a first class job. That sealer you are mentioning sounds like the one that was recommend to me by the guy that pressure washes my decks. The product he recommended was called InvisaShield . When I did the research on it they only had references of concrete decks that were sealed with it. It did appear to hold up, but none were more then 2-3yrs old, so the claim of 5 years is still just a best estimate. What did you use to seal and enhance your deck?

soundsgood, the company that built my pool was called Design Pools in West Palm Beach. They are a 3 man shop that specialized in large custom pools. They did a good job but it was not without some issues. Who are you using to build your pool?

Thanks kitchenshock....we are very happy with the outcome. We did not use invisashield. We used a product by StoneTech called Enhancer Pro. It is not slippery, you wouldnt even know its there, no shine either. But the color of the stone looks like the color when it is wet, instead of the chalky look. (which isnt a bad look, I just love the brown carmel colors, which you dont see when its chalky). This stuff can be sprayed on or lightly brushed on, then you let it sit for 15 minutes and rub off the excess with a towel, kind of like waxing a car. Its quite a workout. The key is that you can not do it on a sunny day, the product dries too fast, then you have a mess on your hands to rub it off. I did it in the late afternoon as the deck shaded and worked with lights on until 11PM. I did have to take a break to take my son to baseball that night and losing an hour and a half of prime work time killed me. But I wanted it done as it was going to rain the next day and you can only do it when the stone is completely dry (which takes days after a rain). The product does say to do 2 coats in one hour, I didnt do that, hope I am not sorry for it later. Otherwise we will re-enhance the sunny areas every year. The covered lanai still looks as good as the day it was done last summer. The Florida sun is brutal! A neighbor had a professional put down a product (she didnt know the name) that was too slippery. They came back and applied another coat of something to stop the slipperiness. Then the stone started to peel on her. I havent talked to her to find out what happened after that. She was told there was too much sealer on the stone. I read where if that happens you have to mechanically remove it. That is one of the reasons I didnt do 2 coats of enhancer.

Who are you using to build your pool?

We haven't hired anyone yet, but will probably go with Treasure. They've done a few of our friends/neighbors pools with great results.

Kitchenshock, which color/shade of Travertine did you use for your deck? And what about for the coping?

soundsgood, I went looking for a picture that would show the color of the tile and I just don't have one. Even the pictures I posted in here do not show the color because of the suns reflection. When the guys are done tomorrow and I finish getting all the mud off of the deck from their work I'll take a picture. The colors I went with were noche 75% and orange 25% in a borderless french pattern. The coping is the Noche but the tiles are very distressed to make the pool look much older and worn in. My look is an informal island/resort style with some tuscany thrown in, which was what I was shooting for. Its a very different look from gk's.

My wife is always riding me to take before and after pictures and I always seem to forget. Now if you asked me for a picture of one of my +300 palms, I could provide you one for every year they have been in my yard. Priorities I guess ;-).

gk -
Thanks for the caveat about the granite - -our bar will be in the sun, albeit under an umbrella, but it's a thought. I agree about tile/grout as a bartop surface, but the granite is going to put us way overbudget on this little d-i-y adventure, so we're looking at other options -- although I am very wary about using wood outside, even if we seal it to death!

Price the granite before you rule it out, some colors are much cheaper than other colors. Or if you need a small piece you might be able to get a good deal. I would do tile over wood if granite does not work in your budget. Many of our friends used tile and it does look nice.

Well, my wife & I have a meeting with our pool guy on Friday. If the pricing for french pattern travertine is not too outta line, that's what we'll go with.

Hope it all works out, I will keep my fingers crosses for the travertine:)

Thanks! :-)

There are also different grades. Some have many holes, while another grade has much fewer holes. We have honed fossil limestone in our bathroom that has no holes. Limestone is different from travertine but likewise is available in different forms/grades.

Well, we're going with the Travertine. French pattern.

Thanks for the help, everyone! :-)

wondering if anyone used artistic pavers over travertine and what were the results? i am considering the same but can't seem to find any good comparison info online

gk5040 - If you get this note, I'm wondering how long the StoneTech product called Enhancer Pro lasted on your Travertine? How many times have you sealed it since 2008? Also any other comments about sealing/not sealing Travertine on a pool deck. ALSO hhuang2620 we are looking at artistic pavers...