Travertine: Am I Being Oversensitive?

That looks great! We did something like that in our master bathroom in a porcelain. What is that called?

 

Not sure what the name is, I will enquire for you.

I'm tearing the entire floor out, cranking the budget up, and starting over. The question is wtf do I replace it with. No slate, no hardwood, no carpet. Marble? Granite? Better travertine maybe vein cut? I'll post some wide-angle shots of the area so you can see the color I'm going for...

 

...But first! A photographic guide to jhb reaching the end of his rope...

 

Lippage the size of a penny... (around 1.5mm. Maximum "acceptable" lippage is .8mm or 1/32 of an inch, so about the width of your standard credit card)

 

 

 

 

Hollow areas under the tiles (and more filled corners). I about ran out of tape when I reached this area!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, on to more constructive things. This is a little over 1800sqft of travertine that needs to go. Here's what we were going for color wise (just moved in a couple of weeks ago so a little lacking in the art department)

 

Entry towards living area

 

 

 

 

Living room

 

 

Kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and someone photoshop a Huracan on my kitchen island...

 

Don't rip it out yet.

 

I'm almost certain the lippage edge issue can easily be fixed with a simple floor sanding and a re-polish. There's 0% chance you are the only one to ever have this issue. Do some research and ask around.

 

Only issue I see would be if you start grinding on it, they might become holy and you would have to have fills done too. I would get a couple of different opinions from local stone installers first and see what they say before I rip it all out.

Natural stone isn't easy to get right jhbcess you have to have a bit of an open mind when you select natural stone floors, it's such a PITA because it's such a big and lasting decision which influences everything else that goes on in your house.

 

I love travertine but it seems you aren't open to its idiosyncrasies in its natural state so you will have to go for something more processed, how about the one I posted, do you like that one? The supplier here calls it wood vein polished, I've search the need for wood vein polished travertine and marble and a bunch of supplier came up with similar looking stone, I am sure you will be able to find it at your local supplier.

 

Marble it's slightly "softer" I prefer the fell under bare feet but you might encounter similar problems unless you ask the supplier to let you hand pick the tiles or reject the ones you don't like, the ones with imperfections, you also need a very professional crew to lay them.

 

How about engineered stone? it has the looks of natural with none of its idiosyncrasies, in some instances it can be more expensive than natural stone so you have to watch for that.

 

On a separate note, looking at your decor I think you'd benefit from a slightly darker floor.

 

This is the marble I will use on my main floor, sorry it's impossible to photograph, I've bought it in slabs format, we will be cutting it to measure locally, it's polished and filled, if you like the texture and color I could mail you a sample you might be able to ask your local store to source it for you.

 

 

 

Don't rip it out yet.

 

I'm almost certain the lippage edge issue can easily be fixed with a simple floor sanding and a re-polish.

 

We're going to see what the tile guys find tomorrow when they pop out some tiles. This may be a situation where we let them do their replacement, live with it for a few months and then go steal all the brazilian blue granite from mullet's house and replace it. Also we're a port city with a lot of stoneyards so I'm going to go check some of those out this week and follow up on Fortis' suggestions.

 

 

Natural stone isn't easy to get right jhbcess you have to have a bit of an open mind when you select natural stone floors, it's such a PITA because it's such a big and lasting decision which influences everything else that goes on in your house.

 

I love travertine but it seems you aren't open to its idiosyncrasies in its natural state so you will have to go for something more processed, how about the one I posted, do you like that one? The supplier here calls it wood vein polished, I've search the need for wood vein polished travertine and marble and a bunch of supplier came up with similar looking stone, I am sure you will be able to find it at your local supplier.

 

Marble it's slightly "softer" I prefer the fell under bare feet but you might encounter similar problems unless you ask the supplier to let you hand pick the tiles or reject the ones you don't like, the ones with imperfections, you also need a very professional crew to lay them.

 

How about engineered stone? it has the looks of natural with none of its idiosyncrasies, in some instances it can be more expensive than natural stone so you have to watch for that.

 

On a separate note, looking at your decor I think you'd benefit from a slightly darker floor.

 

This is the marble I will use on my main floor, sorry it's impossible to photograph, I've bought it in slabs format, we will be cutting it to measure locally, it's polished and filled, if you like the texture and color I could mail you a sample you might be able to ask your local store to source it for you.

 

 

I like the 'wild' look of natural stone, the more I talk (type?) about it I think my biggest problem is the variance in tiles they selected to install and I keep coming back to your insight that a good job really takes an extra 25% to 30% in supplied material so you can be pickier on the install. There are a lot of tiles that look just fine to me, like this one:

 

 

But then literally two feet away they put in tiles missing corners, and this contrast in quality is what's driving me nuts.

 

 

 

I do like that vein cut you showed me and I'll do some research, thanks for that! Here is a vein cut we did in our master bath floor and took it up the wall for the shower so I think I want to do something different for the living space.

 

 

 

We have a lot of stone here in Houston so I should have a lot available to look at and I'm going to go slow about looking and selecting and make sure there's enough quantity to select and discard; many, many thanks for the offer to send me a sample though. Maybe you could slip a piece in the glovebox of that Huracan and send it over so I could take a look at both?

 

To be continued!

 

The Huracan isn't here yet

 

Try to work out a deal with your builder to see if they will accept for you to pay extra for the exact stone you like. Good luck with your search!

Just do this and be done with it. Geez

 

Beaumaniere French Limestone

 

Oh and someone photoshop a Huracan on my kitchen island...

 

Sure.

 

Not sure what the name is, I will enquire for you.

 

Looks like its just Travertino Silver/ Beige vein cut. I was thinking of using something similar in a job ( before I went in the opposite direction with Antique Brown Granite with a Leather finish ).

Looks like its just Travertino Silver/ Beige vein cut. I was thinking of using something similar in a job ( before I went in the opposite direction with Antique Brown Granite with a Leather finish ).

 

Can you post some photos? I like leather finish, do you have any experience with it in wet area?

Sure.

 

 

That's hilarious, lol!

Can you post some photos? I like leather finish, do you have any experience with it in wet area?

 

Hasn't been manufactured yet. I have a small sample here somewhere I can try take a photo of if you like, but it would be too small to give you a proper idea, and you've obviously already seen it in the flesh.

 

No experience in a wet area, but I can't see why it would be an issue ( i'm assuming for walls rather than the floor ). The finish itself is pretty bulletproof ( it's sealed ), the big concern would be cleaning it as harsh cleaners would ruin the surface. The application i'm using it in will see spillages and daily cleaning.

I haven't actually seen that one in the flesh, I've seen other leather finishes.

I've googled the name and it looks very good in the photos, I've called my supplier and it just happens that he's got few slabs in stock, I will go have a look this week. Thank you.

I haven't actually seen that one in the flesh, I've seen other leather finishes.

I've googled the name and it looks very good in the photos, I've called my supplier and it just happens that he's got few slabs in stock, I will go have a look this week. Thank you.

 

Oh cool. Let me know how you like it. It goes subtly brown when leathered, it's a very smart look. I'm not actually a fan of the natural Antique Brown.

 

This would look stunning leathered as well. "Mystic Brown"

 

 

Wow that looks very good, thanks for posting, unfortunately that's not the color he's got in stock here.

 

I've seen a leather finished stone which had red and white veins through it, it looked incredible, I believe it comes from Iran but the supplier is refusing to go back and get some more

Repair work in progress. Day 1 they cut the tiles, not too bad. Day 2 they removed them, house is dusty as hell. Day 3 is today, laying new tiles and hopefully doing it level.

 

Here's some of the damages. I particularly like the shallow electrical line that was laying underneath all the tiles that cracked. I expected something better for seven digits...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully tonight I will have some shots of the finished product!

 

 

Here's some of the damages. I particularly like the shallow electrical line that was laying underneath all the tiles that cracked. I expected something better for seven digits...

 

Thats your electrician. Looks like someone didn't get the electric to the island placed properly and they had to grind a groove in the concrete to move it, or they just completely forgot about it.

 

I hope they can get away with doing it piece by piece like that and not the entire thing.

 

 

For 7 digits I would be LIVID at that electrical line. Hell for 5 digits I would still be pissed.

I hope they can get away with doing it piece by piece like that and not the entire thing.

 

 

For 7 digits I would be LIVID at that electrical line. Hell for 5 digits I would still be pissed.

 

Yeah, imagine being the guy who goes to replace that floor in a few years and hits that with his chipping hammer or angle grinder.

Found this in the wine grotto

 

Congrats on your new home. I'm sure you will be super happy with it once you get the flooring issue sorted out.

That looks like a nightmare, hopefully it will be sorted soon and to your satisfaction.I'd go now and reiterate to them that it has to be done perfectly and you won't be accepting anything less, it wouldn't hurt refreshing their memory.

Congrats on your new home. I'm sure you will be super happy with it once you get the flooring issue sorted out.

How did day 2 and 3 go?