Styles, Grades and Types of Travertine Tile

Travertine is a very versatile type of stone that comes in different grades, types, and styles. It is good to know the differences between these different travertine categories because it will help you understand the different possible restorations that can be completed for your travertine tiles.

STYLES OF TRAVERTINE

We are going to start with the styles of travertine tiles. There are three main styles tumbled, honed and polished travertine.

TUMBLED TRAVERTINE

Tumbled Travertine is more of a rough natural looking style of travertine. The edges tend not to be straight and there may be more pitting and rigidness to the surface of the tiles. This style of travertine is the most natural-looking of the three. It has movement from all directions. Typically, you will find tumbled travertine in showers, spas, backsplashes and outdoors. It is also popular as flooring in Spanish/Tuscan-style homes here in Arizona. 

When it comes to the types of sheens you can achieve on tumbled travertine, you area little more limited. Many people love the high shine look, but unfortunately, that is hard to accomplish with the rougher exterior of tumbled travertine. The highest sheen we recommend and offer to tumbled travertine is a semi-gloss sheen but we recommend the satin finish to keep the unique look of tumbled travertine.

HONED TRAVERTINE 

Honed travertine is a more modern style of travertine than tumbled travertine is. This travertine style has a smoother finish with smooth edges and is typically factory filled in the pits and holes. Honed travertine is achieved by grinding one side of the travertine tile. Honed travertine is popular indoors as the flooring, in bathrooms, around pools, and in the kitchen as backsplashes. Honed travertine can be filled or unfilled depending on the look you are going for.

Honed travertine can typically achieve any sheen from a satin finish to the high shine depending on the grade of the travertine, which we will get to grades here shortly. If you were looking for a higher sheen on your travertine and went with honed travertine, we suggest getting a higher grade travertine to ensure the integrity of the polishing can occur.

POLISHED TRAVERTINE

Polished travertine is one of the most popular styles. This classy, modern, and sophisticated look gives high a high-end feeling and a very luxurious feeling. Like honed travertine, polished is ground on one side with abrasive grits to achieve a shiny finish. Polished travertine can be found in almost any atmosphere. Still, we suggest straying away from polished travertine, where water is often present as it can get slippery when highly shined. Polished travertine typically comes in a semi-gloss finish or the high shine finish and is very easy to get back to those sheens if, over time, they dull.

With polished travertine achieving the highest shine possible is always the best route as this travertine style is already prepped for that sheen. We do not recommend applying a topical sealer to any form of travertine to make it even shinier, as that topical will break down and look bad over time and can hurt the integrity of your polished travertine.

GRADES OF TRAVERTINE

The next important thing to know about your travertine is its grade level of it. There are three grades to travertine premium, standard and commercial. They all vary slightly but can have an impact on what can be achieved once installed.

PREMIUM OR FIRST GRADE

This grade tends to be the quote highest level of the grades. When produced, it is cut the most evenly thickness-wise, has very little filler, and is the most uniform in look. First-grade travertine also comes in the most color variation sand the tiles are double filled to ensure the most level of the grades. This grade tends to be the easiest to polish to all the sheens, including the highest of shines.

STANDARD OR SECOND GRADE 

Standard grade is also cut uniform in thickness but there will tend to be more filling needed. These tend to be honed styles of travertine. The fill is double filled but some of the filled areas will be the entire thickness of the stone and the filled areas may be more prominent and more noticeable. 

COMMERCIAL OR THIRD GRADE 

Commercial grade tends to be more uneven, is not cut perfectly in thickness, and will have more fill variation. This grade is only factory-filled and not hand-filled before distribution, so small pits and holes may be found at the time of installation. Third-grade tiles tend to be what tumbled travertine is designated within. The higher sheens will be hard to achieve and this grade is more of the natural stone look and a more rustic feeling.

As you can see, the different grades have different characteristics to help you choose the best options for you and the look you are going for. We are not stating that one grade or type is better. There are just different things and looks you can achieve with them. Also, we want you to know where to use them and not use them to help keep your surfaces bright and looking their best. 

TYPES OF TRAVERTINE

Last but not least, let's discuss the types of travertine. This part is more fun than anything because all the different styles and grades can have these types found within them. There are two cut types to travertine vein and fleuri. The cut type is determined by the bedding planes of the travertine.

VEIN CUT TRAVERTINE

You achieve a vein cut when you cut against the bedding, giving the travertine surface a linear pattern look.

FLEURI CUT TRAVERTINE

This is cross-cutting against the bedding, giving you a more circular-looking or non-consistent pattern to the travertine.

Both of these cuts are beautiful and give the travertine a more distinct feeling and look you may be going for. We hope this helps you choose what style, grade, or type of travertine for your next project. If you have any questions or want more information, please check out our website www.travertinecleaningaz.com or give our office a call at 480-352-2987.

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