Travertine

Posted by Kristin Abraham Aug 8, 2007

I was watching the new reality decorating show and the main character, Jeff, was insisting that travertine was absolutely dead and had been for eight years. Well, I guess I live in Wisconsin so perhaps the 8 year moratorium on travertine hasn't hit yet. Anyway, I thought this might be a good time to explain travertine and its many functions.

Basically, travertine is a sedimentary rock that in its purest form is white but often takes on a yellowish or brownish hue due to impurities. And quite truthfully, those impurities can make a slab of travertine quite beautiful. You'll frequently see travertine used to pave patios, garden walks and a more polished form can be used for floor tiles. Sometimes you'll hear it called travertine marble or travertine limestone, but its actually neither, its just sedimentary rock. Travertine comes with holes and pits all over the surface and is one of its charms, but if you don't like the worn, pitted look you can get a filled product that comes with grout in the holes.

When using travertine for a floor tile it needs to be polished smooth and then it ends up with a shiny finish with colors ranging from a beige-grey to a pinkish red. It's actually a very common building material in modern structures and can be used to create a bunch of different effects. But the most notable travertine buildings are ancient and stunningly beautiful. Take for instance the Colosseum in rome, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Paris and more recently, the Getty Center in Los Angeles.