Spectralock. That's if you don't mind spending the money. It's not cheap, nor is the labor to install it. If you use a medium to dark color grout, you shouldn't have to worry about staining or sealing, because you'll never see it, anyway.

What a wonder site and thank you to each one of you for your contribution. We are avid DIY'ers and done floors from hardwood to ceramic and porcelain, but never slate or any other stone or marble. The picture I posted (hopefully the picture posts properly) is of a portion of a home we did in a porcelain tile that mimicked a natural stone wonderfully and we considered using this same porcelain in our present home, but I've now seen a travertine tile that amplifies exactly what we loved about this particular porcelain so much and I can't seem to shake it. Even the cons that I've read I feel are worth accepting because this travertine is so beautiful. Can anyone tell me........if you seal the floor as instructed and you were to spill something (say some pickled beet juice), but wipe it up reasonably quickly, will it STILL stain??? Also, we have shied away from using hardwood under the dining table area because we are afraid of it being scratched from the chairs regardless of the fact that we have pads under the legs - does anyone out there have experience with travertine under their dining table and did / do the chairs scratch the flooring? I am truly attached to this travertine and really hope that we can make this work, but if it really is NOT practical, then the logical side of me will dictate that we do not use it (sniff, sniff) and perhaps we'll use the same porcelain we used before. One more question though.......I've heard that travertine can be sealed and then a finish can be applied that will give it a nice gloss (similar to a glossy porcelain tile) now is this true and does anyone have experience with this? The "flat" finish on the porcelain tile was probably the only thing that we didn't care for about it as we do like a gloss although I would probably forego that too for these travertine tiles. BTW.......we think the most beautiful thing about the travertine is the highly irregular patterns and colouring as the background is basically a mix of bright white and creamy white, the striations and streaks and lines and "blobs" of rusty orange, gray and even a bit of maroon are unbelievably BEAUTIFUL !!!!

I installed Mirage brand yellow birch, select, natural (no stain) site finished floors about a year ago. So far they've held up pretty well, and we are NOT a gentle folk with them. There are some dents where furniture was moved around during the reno, but mostly it's surface scratches in the poly that are showing up. The scratches bug me more than the dents because dirt gets in them and then they're visible, where the dents you don't see unless the lighting is just right. So, if I were to do it again I'd still go for the Birch, but I'd probably stain it a slightly darker colour so the scratches aren't quite as visible. It's a pretty light floor overall. I still have 100 yo Douglas Fir floors that scratch and dent if you look at them wrong (which I absolutely love), but the scratches aren't so visible because the floor is darker, which makes the difference for me. I say get whatever makes you swoon. There was something about the birch that my husband lusted after. The graining and neat iridescent looking spots sold him, and eventually me too. If you get those pangs over either of your flooring choices, just go for it. Just maybe consider a medium stain on those birch floors if you're like me and scratches will bug you.

If we hadn't been able to reveal and use the original linoleum in our home, I would have put in VCT. I love the look as well. I have a friend who has VCT in her kitchen and she has told me that she simply mops it and, once in awhile, puts on a coat of wax. I don't think it's anymore maintenance than vinyl. I think once in a very long, blue moon, she does strip the wax off but I've done this myself on my linoleum and it's a quick, easy job with today's products. Just mop the stripper on, rinse, dry and then mop on a thin coat of wax. Done. If you have renters that take reasonable care of the flooring, I'm betting you'd only need to do that when prepping the apartment for new renters so things are fresh and shiny to attract a new renter. Of course, do more research to be sure but my friend's floor looks great and she's fastidious and I know she doesn't go to all that trouble you mentioned. I would guess shes had it in for about 10 years or so.