Travertine

Travertine is mainly a kind of limestone deposited by hot mineral spring. Travertine is usually used as a building material and is frequently used in modern architecture. One of the most famous buildings used travertine is Colosseum in Rome. Travertine is relatively soft stone with a lot of natural holes and trough in its surface.

As a building material, some people prefer to fill the holes while other leave them unfilled. The finish of the travertine surface can be polished, honed for example. The travertine comes in a lot of colors: cream, yellow, brown, black, grey, red, golden and so on.Travertine is often used for flooring, facades and wall cladding.

Travertine Tiles History

Travertine tiles have been used for hundred years in some countries but are becoming popular in the USA only now. Travertine was originally a stone that was quarried from a town near ancient Rome. This town was originally called Tibur but after many years this town was called Travertine. Travertine was unbelievably quite more popular than most people think. Most of people still think the Coliseum in Rome was built of marble but the fact is that it is nearlybuilt 100% of travertine. This makes sense since as a building material travertine is very functional. Travertine is comparatively light in weight and easy to handle but it still has solid features. One of the reasons that the Coliseum in Rome has been standing there for over 2000 years.

Travertine Tiles Today

Nowadays most of the travertine we used is in the form of cut-to-size tiles. Travertine is a sedimentary rock deposited by mineral springs especially hot springs. Mineral hot springs produce calcium carbonate that accumulates under ground. It is called rapid precipitation process. Over a period of time, this accumulation forms shape of rock. Travertine shows veins and various textures that are actually living things and micro particles which are trapped under the precipitation. For this reason no two travertine flooring tiles are alike either in vein pattern, color, or texture.

What is Travertine Tiles

These minerals are the place the travertine obtains its beautiful colors from. Though most of travertine tiles are based on shades of tan earth tones, the minerals embedded almost any color throughout the stone. All these give a quite attractive look whether you are planning to do a travertine floor or you want to clad them onto a wall surface. Because travertine is a sedimentary rock we need to note that it has troug and voids which are formed by air bubbles. This is not like marble since marble is a dense stone which has been transformed into a metamorphic rock by extreme heat and pressure.So these voids of travertine tiles have to be filled otherwise spills on them can incur staining that is very difficult to get rid of.

Travertine Tiles Application

You can also decorate your home with the attractive travertine tiles as the ancient Romans did. The originally use of travertine tiles can be stem back to Roman time when travertine was the one of the very few building material available for decorating building such as temples, Colosseum and other large monument.The Roman building and architecture is well-known for their aesthetic beauty and elegance. Nowadays, travertine is widely used for wall cladding, flooring, mosaic chips.

It is a very neat idea to pave travertine tiles on your floor and wall. Choose the color and finish that best show your vision and matches perfectly with your home amosphere.Travertine floor tile is a ideal choice for paving patios, swimming pool edge and garden paths. Travertine is also widely used as wall cladding and flooring. The popular finishes of these tiles are tumbled, honed, brushed and polished. The color of travertine ranges from white, beige, gold, rustic red to black. This flooring tiles is available in set sizes so you find it very easy to install. Travertine tiles need less adhesive for installing comparing to other flooring tiles. If you are a DIYer then you could try installing travertine tiles on your floor and wall.