They did use a 4 inch travertine as the waterline. I almost did too, because when we ripped out our coping we used a 1 1/4" thick bullnose travertine. My previous coping was that hiddious white shiney cap "bathroom" tile....at least that is what it reminded me of:) My tile line now had to be 8 inches instead of the standard 6. We went with a 6 inch tile and ran it on the diagonal...its beautiful. Our pool guy had suggested doing the 2 rows of 4 inch travertine to get the 8 inches we needed to cover. I read a lot on this forum that you had to be careful with travertine inside the pool because of the chemicals....especially if you have a salt system. We dont have the salt system and I didnt want to rule out ever getting it. Another neighbor did the travertine, one row and the waterline is just at the bottom of the row. Hers has been in for a few years and she tells me she has had NO problems with it, never brushes it, etc. It looks beautiful too. Personally, I was a little nervous about putting a porous stone inside the pool and decided to do tile. Several tile places were leary of it when I would mention what I wanted to do.

Mike A- There's more to it than putting on a respirator and pulling it up. Personal protection for asbestos abatement people is the easy part. It's all the other things you do to prevent the spread of fibers throughout your house and ductwork, and then properly disposing of everything. If you've never done this before, you should realize that it can be a challenge to get things completely removed, including the flooring adhesive that may also have asbestos in it. And, you often need a permit ot undertake this. Here is some guidance from a State environmental agency on DIY: Asbestos containing flooring Sometimes the best approach is to not disturb it, but to simply nail down a thin subfloor and then put your new material directly on that.

@Ana Gutierrez: It’s least worth your time to research engineered wood. It’s not as expensive as people think and many handy homeowners are able to install it. It also goes over some types of existing floors. It looks the richest, especially if a medium brown is your preference. Laminate floors are the least durable and the worst in a wet climate. Any flooding, even a little, will ruin it. Luxury vinyl tile gets great reviews. The better products look more like wood than laminates. All of these can be bought in planks that are not hard to install. Tile, as was well pointed out, is ridiculously expensive and hardest on your back. Most vinyl will survive the dogs pretty well. I know a family with two Rhodesian Ridgebacks who installed luxury vinyl in the bedroom and bathroom of their twins’ suite. The mother wishes she had a reason to put it around the whole house. Do your research. Ask questions at flooring places so someone knowledgeable can answer about durability and dog-nail scratching. You can shop for bargains after you get all the information together. Don’t go to big box stores yet.

Thanks for the input. I’ve been at a stall trying to design around these pieces and having trouble. To answer Q… this flooring is not on concrete subfloor- we are on a raised foundation on a slope. After more thought I think I will try to get a quote for laying similar wood in the kitchen and resurfacing if all to same color at some point. Seems expensive but probably around same cost as some of the engineered hardwood click locks and LVP I’ve seen… I guess I’ll find out. Anyone know what possible cost range would be? (I’m near Santa Cruz CA for reference)