Polished travertine tiles in our kitchen and bathrooms. Should we seal them?

by kim
(mississippi )

We had polished travertine tiles installed in the kitchen and bathrooms less than a year ago. We have been given conflicting information from the supplier, installers, "experts", and of course the internet.

1. Should polished travertine be sealed? If so, with what? And what exactly are the steps to do this? If not, what do you recommend to help keep it clean, shiny, and reduce scratches?

2. We have some minor scratches, but we would like to remove them. What would you suggest? We have been told Traverfill, but we have also been told not to use this product on polished travertine. Again, we would appreciate any suggestions and knowledge you have.

This is too much of an investment not to treat it correctly. We live in Mississippi in case weather and humidity plays a roll in this.




Hi Kim,

I understand your concern and frustration with all the conflicting information.

First of all let me tell you, from my experience, I have seen polished travertine stained more than a dozen times.

I see the grout in polished travertine stained all the time.

It is my recommendation to seal all natural stone including polished travertine.

As for the scratches, you need to have them honed and polished to remove them. I don't know who told you to use travertfill, but traverfill is for filling holes.

Maybe you can use the travertfill if the scratches are really deep, but I doubt it.

Also, there are different types of traverfill. If it's the traverfill that acts like grout, then I wouldn't use it on your polished travertine.

If it's the polyester travertine filler, like the Tenax brand, then it will be fine for your polished travertine.

We use the Tenax brand travertine filler for all our travertine jobs. It works great and it's stronger than the actual travertine.

I hope this information helps.

Pedro