Almost every year I get couple questions about my travertine deck, problems with travertine coping and decking in freeze/thaw cycles, etc.
It's a show off time, let me walk you through my deck, 7 winters after construction.
Watch This Video!
Overall, we are really happy with travertine, issues and maintenance are very minimal and we would go with travertine again, no doubts.
Here’s what we did:
Coping.
Every year I get and couple stones cracked because of freeze/thaw cycles. Note, those cracks are developed on coping row only, side facing pool water, nowhere else! Some of cracks is a simple glue job, some is replacement – pull out old stone, glue new one in. Simple. Freeze/thaw cycles affects coping stones which have horizontal voids at the bullnose end, so hopefully I’ve already eliminated majority of them, but again, it’s a simple repair.
See Image 1
See Image 2
I got couple coping stones cracked because of installation issues (uneven level between pool coping and deck) and human weight apply on top of the stone. Those cracked stones (I have maybe 3) don’t bother anyone, so they are not replaced. One stone was cracked by me when I tried to remove it and did not listed to the installer (lesson learned).
See Image 3
When ordering coping stone, get some extra!
Deck.
No major issues. Power wash it every spring. Had to glue couple stones this spring because polymeric sand is gone and I wanted to eliminate stone movement at some areas.
I think my “no sealing” approach works just fine even with my SWG. Why to waste extra $$$ on expensive sealer?
That’s about it. No other maintenance items or issues.
Still a happy camper on travertine deck!
It's a show off time, let me walk you through my deck, 7 winters after construction.
Watch This Video!
Overall, we are really happy with travertine, issues and maintenance are very minimal and we would go with travertine again, no doubts.
Here’s what we did:
- Got travertine from travertinemart, lightest color.
- Installed travertine on a concrete slab (glued) and filled joints with polymeric send.
- We did not seal the stone.
- Choose a darker stone.
- Do not bother much with polymeric send, maybe just very minimal amount (you’ll see why below).
Coping.
Every year I get and couple stones cracked because of freeze/thaw cycles. Note, those cracks are developed on coping row only, side facing pool water, nowhere else! Some of cracks is a simple glue job, some is replacement – pull out old stone, glue new one in. Simple. Freeze/thaw cycles affects coping stones which have horizontal voids at the bullnose end, so hopefully I’ve already eliminated majority of them, but again, it’s a simple repair.
See Image 1
See Image 2
I got couple coping stones cracked because of installation issues (uneven level between pool coping and deck) and human weight apply on top of the stone. Those cracked stones (I have maybe 3) don’t bother anyone, so they are not replaced. One stone was cracked by me when I tried to remove it and did not listed to the installer (lesson learned).
See Image 3
When ordering coping stone, get some extra!
Deck.
No major issues. Power wash it every spring. Had to glue couple stones this spring because polymeric sand is gone and I wanted to eliminate stone movement at some areas.
I think my “no sealing” approach works just fine even with my SWG. Why to waste extra $$$ on expensive sealer?
That’s about it. No other maintenance items or issues.
Still a happy camper on travertine deck!
