Do You Have To Grout Travertine Tile

The grout lines in travertine floors allow the individual tiles to expand or contract as the season and temperature changes.

Do you have to grout travertine tile.

However the grout is also susceptible to water damage discoloration stains and even mold. This means that unlike ceramic tile except for rectified tile travertine s edges are perfect. When you mix the grout the instructions want you to mix it so it is about as thick as peanut butter. 3 drag the grout float over the entire tile to push the grout both between the tiles and.

It effectively prevents the tiles from rubbing against each other and cracking. Hi richard mate travertine can be grouted before sealing but sealing before hand makes the cleaning up process easier travertines not like some other naturals where as they are highly porous travertine isn t but i would still advise not to leave it too long before washing off make sure you have all residue cleaned off before sealing i use lithofin stain stop and its reatails for about 25 a ltr. Both perfectly straight and perfectly at 90 degree angles. As long as the travertine tiles are well bonded to the substrate that you cut open the joints so they are about 1 8 inch wide that you clean the joints thoroughly and let them dry and then if you install a polymer modified cementitious grout meeting ansi a118 7 per the manufacturer s directions it should perform well.

Even if rectified tiles allow you to avoid using grout without having the result look unaligned the materials are still in danger of being chipped or damaged. The rustic charm of unfilled travertine is maintained whilst making the tiles easy to clean. The sand in the ground can inadvertently damage the tile. Perfectly cut edges will not perform better than regular tile when friction occurs so they can still cause a variety of problems if you opt for a no grout tile installation.

You only need to butter the back of the travertine tile with mortar then push it against the other tiles no gap necessary. Leaving the natural holes will make the stone look more natural but grouting is more tedious than if the whole tile lines and holes are grouted. Before you grout travertine tile decide whether you want the holes grouted along with the lines between the tiles. How to grout travertine tile.

While grout with sand in it is perfectly all right for most tiles you should only use unsanded grout for tumbled travertine tile. No gap means no grout.