Sealing Travertine Shower

by Sharon Wiest
(Orem, Utah)

QUESTION: I have travertine floors and showers. Should I put a sealer on all of those?

ANSWER: Many travertines are dense enough that they don't need sealing to retard staining on a floor. And polished travertine will almost never need or even be able to absorb a sealer.

But, honed travertine will usually take an impregnator/sealer without any problems, so it's a good idea to seal your travertine floor at least once especially in the kitchen, bar and bath.

First, you should test to determine when and if any stone needs sealing and/or re-sealing.

Remember that sealing won't do anything to prevent etching if travertine comes in contact with acidic substances like alcohol, coffee, fruit juice, etc.

Etching is corrosion of the stone that can leave dull and discolored spots, but it is a completely different issue than staining.

Travertine Shower: should NOT be sealed. Most problems that develop with showers or wet environments are the result of a poor installation. You may get away with sealing a travertine shower without any issue (or appreciable benefit for that matter) but, you really want to let stone breath and sealing may end up trapping moisture in the stone.

If the installation isn't perfect (and many aren't) then water will eventually find its way underneath the tiles where the sealer will prevent evaporation leading to degradation of the stone.

At that point you'll just have to tear out the shower and start over.

So, in wet environments, sealing travertine is not recommended. Nothing you use in the shower should stain travertine and sealing will not protect against caustic cleaning agents that shouldn't be used anyway.

I'd test the floors first and seal them if necessary once using SenGuard or Stone Sentry Sealers.

Test again in a few years to see if they may need it again (probably not) and forget about sealing travertine shower.

Hope this helps,

Ryan

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