Travertine - grouting?

[kairus00]

What's everyone's opinion on grouting travertine pavers? My patio pavers and pool coping are all travertine, but the coping is grouted. I applied polymeric sand to the rest of the pavers, but I don't think I did a good job as I've been losing a lot of sand. It's been about 2-3 month now, and I've got areas where dirt and weeds are coming up.

I'm having trouble deciding on whether or not to have a professional apply the polymeric sand, that way if it doesn't last I can complain to someone . Or, just have it grouted and call it a day. I have a family friend that does tile work (did a lot of work for me), and I'm sure I could get a good deal on that job. Or is there some other option that I'm missing?

 

[riley00dog]

Ours are grouted. We have classic light travertine pavers and I think the grout is Mapai Jasmine.

 

[rphpool]

Mine are NOT grouted but are set so close together ( tight ) that I hardly ever see a weed. I do not think sand could get between the joints. When a weed does show ( very infrequent ) I hit it with Roundup.

 

[sixstring]

I applied polymeric sand to the rest of the pavers, but I don't think I did a good job as I've been losing a lot of sand. It's been about 2-3 month now, and I've got areas where dirt and weeds are coming up.

One thing to keep in mind with polymeric sand is that there needs to be a minimum grout space of at least 1/4". Even that is quite small. If there isn't adequate gap, polymeric sand will not set and people walking on it and rain and wind and everything else will just spread it all over the place and it will never harden. It will become a big mess. I would assume that travertine spacing is very thin. The other note with working with polymeric sand is that it has to be properly wet to set correctly. If this is not done right, it will not harden.

As far as dirt and weeds, not sure where dirt is coming from if you properly installed the travertine. Perhaps you are seeing mold which looks like dirt. For mold and weeds, i use straight chlorine from a pump sprayer and that takes care of most of the problem areas.

 

[jaymantx]

My pavers put polymeric sand, but as others have said, because the stones are set so tightly together, there aren't much space for those sands to go. So, I have been seeing a lot of sand washing off the deck whenever I spray water.

 

[duraleigh]

No one has asked you if you have a concrete deck underneath the pavers. If you do not, grouting is not an option.