I love the look of the travertine honed 4"4" . But, a lot of people said that this is not recommended for kitchen countertops. Does anyone have this kind of material in their counter tops? What are the pros and con?. And what are the price ranges?
Thanks so much for any assistance you guys can give me.
Ellie D.T.
I've seen it in backsplashes all the time but never on a countertop (most of what I have seen is in showrooms and magazines)
First off travertine can be (but not always) be quite soft. It often has fillers which may or may not stand up to counter top abuse but mostly people don't like Honed surface for countertops. Polished is usually preferred I suppose because it's more easily wiped clean. Honed can also give you that fingernail on a chalkboard sound when you slide a plate across it.
Finally, 4x4 is a small tile for counters, it will have a lot of grout which is a pain to maintain and to clean. I currently have a counter with 5x5 ceramic tiles a speckled brown color you can't tell if its dirty, I hate it.
Consider 16" tiles on the diagonal, you can get lots of stone in this size, especially travertine. Prices vary as much as availability, you really need to go out and look yourself. Anything from $3 to $15 a SF can be found.
Porous, so it stains easily and permanently, retains microbial contamination. Soft, so it scratches easily. Pitted, so you have to fill it to even approximately hope to keep it clean.
Travetine is a relatively porous stone. Stuff we commonly spill in the kitchen will absorb into the stone, creating a permanent stain.
This is true for almost all natural stone countertops, even granite. This fact is why most countertops sold are dark colors, to help hide the stains.
Corian, Silestone, or one of the myriad of artificial surfaces, some of which have stone dust embedded in the matrix are generally recommended for kitchen counters as they will take ALOT more abuse and still look fresh.
Backsplashes are acceptable use of Travertine as we are less likely to stain it with spills on the coutnertop.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.