Travertine is said to be an easy stone to cut. I’m not sure why that sounds a little funny to me. But all things being relative there are harder stones than others and cutting travertine is easier that many tiles.
Let’s get started.
- Say you have the 18″ x 18″/ ½ inch thick travertine tile and a wet tile saw all ready.
- You’re ready to cut if you’ve marked your pattern, design or straight line where it needs to be cut.
- Now, you want to cut a few inches on one side and then turn the tile over and finish on the other side to avoid break-out on the edge, what in wood might be splinters or jagged edges.
- Pick a trowel. The best will be a 3/8″ x 3/8″.
- Now use medium bed Thinset, which is what holds the tile in place. Be careful not to use the wrong consistency of Thinset because you may get shrinkage which produces cracks.
- Use a wet sponge to wipe powder from the reverse side of the tiles. They must be clean.
- When the tiles are clean, add a small coat of mortar onto the flat side of the trowel. It sounds simple but this is a technique with a special name: burning or keying in.
- Now you’re ready to scrape away most of what you just put onto the tile. All that should remain is a film of mortar.
- Add more mortar and comb it with the teeth on your trowel. That’s what they’re for if you were wondering. Oh, and try to spread the mortar in only one direction.
You’re almost ready to place the tile….but just a sec.
- First take another tile to make slight groves in the opposite direction of how you placed the mortar. This just helps to avoid air pockets later.
- Now set the tile in place!
It’s important to keep your tiling area clean and to wipe away excess material because mortar when dry is very difficult to remove.
If you are following a pattern, which you should be, draw or use a chalk outline before mixing your mortar or placing a single tile. This s called dry lay.
Travertine tile installation is a long process and requires patience. But if you’ve just spent a small fortune on polished travertine tile don’t rush the process. Take it nice and slow.
