How To Seal Turkish Travertine

by André Chaves
(Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

QUESTION:

Dear Sir, I am just finishing to build my dream home and I have chosen the Travertine from Turkey (light beige) as the floor for my living room, dining room and balcony.

I am using the stone in its "Crude" form (non polished) and I really would like to keep and care for that natural "Dry" and "full of holes" appearance.

How should I protect it? I would like to avoid any products that make it "shine" or "fill the holes" if it all possible.

An image for a stone like mine can be found here:

http://www.baneclene.com/images/Travertine.jpg

or here

http://www.sky-marble.com/travertine.asp

Thank you for your input. André

ANSWER:

You'll need to find a natural stone impregnating sealer locally to do the job.

I'd recommend STONE SENTRY or SenGuard Sealers, but we cannot ship these to Brazil.

For complete information on sealers and how to seal properly get the All About Sealing Manual.

The holes you should fill with color matching non-sanded grout. Yes, it looks good now, but they will collect dirt, grime, mold and possibly bacteria. Eventually they will fill up with dirt and that's no good.

So, fill the holes and then seal the floor with an impregnating (not a topical) sealer. This type of sealer absorbs into the stone and will not change the color and will not make it shiny.

Good Luck,
Ryan

P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions for any issue, problem or question with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.

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