Travertine issue

[Wageschr]

Installed a new pool last year but my tiles are developing holes. Is this normal?

 

[setsailsoon]

I've had polished travertine and natural travertine in several homes. Never again for this exact reason. Most of the time it takes several years and doesn't get this bad. I'd contact your installer. Looks like this is very low quality material. I'm not an expert at all on this just used it a few times over the years. Not sure who our expert is on this @kimkats can you answer and/or point in the right direction?

Chris

 

[kimkats]

Chris @setsailsoon I am with you in that this looks like soft stone. There many different sources and this looks like one of the lesser quality ones

In an out of the way place take a small nail or something kind of pointy and see what happens when you rub the tip on the area around the hole area. Does it dig in with little effort or crumble away when you LIGHTLY rub or poke?

You can fill in the holes with something. I am not sure what so will reach out to a few that many know @bdavis466 @jimmythegreek @ajw22 thoughts?

 

[Wageschr]

I was afraid of that. As it is happening all over the decking.

 

[Wageschr]

One hole I can stick my finger in and remove material with my nail

 

[Arizonarob]

That’s the problem with travertine, looks awesome, but a major PITA to keep looking good.
The only thing you can do is seal it, but even then, it only slows down the inevitable.

 

[setsailsoon]

Wag,

Wish we had better news for you. We were attracted by the gorgeous look in the showroom. One installer came back and repaired like Rob mentioned but it still eventually ended up with holes and we replaced it. I will never use it again, inside or out.

Chris

 

[Katodude]

I would contact the installer since that does not look great. However, as an option you can have it grouted. I did it last year and my travertine looks a lot better since. Here is my thread on the topic.

Tired of stuff growing in between my travertine pavers

Well, I finally hit the limit. Done with “wet and forget” and done with Roundup (probably have a bunch of health issues having to spray that stuff almost weekly). I have the pressure washing guy coming on Monday to completely clean the deck. Then my floor guy is coming on Friday and has...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[darinclifton]

Installed a new pool last year but my tiles are developing holes. Is this normal?

It looks like the fill material is breaking down. There are several grades of travertine, for pool deck you should use a premium or select grade, the best / most expensive . Who ever the installer got the stone from may have use a lower quality fill material or lower quality stone. FYI, it is NOT uncommon for travertine to be surface filled.

Was the stone sealed after or before installation? You should never use travertine outdoors without applying a high graded stone sealer (something like Stonetech Heavy duty sealer). You might be able to fill spot surface with a travertine fill (something like Stone Pro Traverfill) I would NOT grout unless they wet set the stone, set in mortar on a solid base, typically concrete)

To be honest in the wide photo it does not look that bad. We use travertine for pool deck not just because beautiful but because its porous, all of those holes help to keep the stone from absorbing to much heat, keeping the deck cooler than something like concrete. BTW, there is NO such thing as a maintenance free pool deck material, it all takes work to keep it looking good!

 

[Wageschr]

Thanks for the reply. The pool company said we didn’t need to seal the Travertine. Guess I will be doing it soon.