When researching online about tiling solutions, you may come across the idea of a travertine tile. And you could subsequently find yourself a little bit at a loss, as to what such travertine tiles are. We are used to things like quartz tiles, granite tiles and so on, but the idea of travertine tiles can be a little novel for some of us. It is therefore from such a background that you could find yourself heading online, to do some research, in order to learn more about the travertine tile - and subsequently work out whether it would be an ideal tile for the kind of job you have at hand.

So what are travertine tiles?

Well, travertine floors are simply tiles made from the material known as travertine, which chemically speaking, is a form of limestone known as calcium carbonate. Like other forms of limestone, travertine is a result of long term solution of minerals in ground water. It is usually harvested at sites such as river banks and springs, which offer opportunity for minerals to dissolve in ground water. It is this natural material, then, that is harvested and processed to make the said travertine floor.

There are many places where use of the travertine tile would be ideal. One of those is on countertops. Another place where travertine tiles wouldn't be misplaced is on walls - even in showers and kitchens. Travertine can also make a good tiling solution for flooring. So as we can see, travertine floor can be successfully used almost everywhere where tiling is usually a necessity. Of course, when applying travertine tiling, it is worth remembering its chemical foundation, made as it is from calcium carbonate, and avoid installing it in places where it would be exposed to acidic conditions which can mess up with it in the long run. If you really love travertine, and you feel that you have to install it in a place where it is likely to be in an acidic environment, it would be ideal to seal it (using the kind of sealants that are typically used with granite tiles).

The beauty of the travertine floor tile is to be found in the vast variety of finishes it can give. As it turns out, it is possible to have travertine floor tiles that give you shiny finish (for installation in places where that would be ideal), or travertine-tiles that can give you a 'matte' or a textured finish, also for installation in places where such looks would be ideal. This makes the travertine tiles unlike other varieties of tiles, which are usually limited to pretty much only one type of finish.

Another attractive thing about the travertine floor is the variety of colors it can come in. In this regard, if you either fancy gold-colored tiles, or beige tiles, or yet still ivory-colored tiles, you can find travertine floor in exactly those colors. Worth noting is the fact that what you would be getting here are travertine tiles whose natural colors are those in question, rather than travertine floors that have been painted to attain those colors. According to chemistry scholars, these varieties of colors in which the travertine floors come are a result of the impurities that manage to get in, during the reactions in which the 'main' minerals (and especially calcium) dissolve in ground water to form travertine.