We have travertine and love it. It has been down only a few months but no difficult upkeep or staining issues so far. I just love the real stone. I know some of the porcelains and ceramics are lovely but they can never quite match the randomness of the real thing to my eye.

We have multi classic slate floors. We have had them in the dining room for years and extended them into the kitchen. I love them. They do have to be sealed but do not show dirt and seem to be warm in the winter. We have them with cherry cabinets, medium stain, oro persa granite. The kitchen seems very organic.

Egg, this is going to be one of those things where some people can tell the difference right away and others never notice. So the first thing you should ask yourself is, which kind are you? If you can always spot the fake, you might not be happy with porcelain.

I'll be putting stone tile in my kitchen. Don't know which yet and will be interested to see what people have to say about the marble/travertine/limestone differences.

But I was just visiting my brother at Easter at his short term rental in Newport Beach and am surprised to hear you think the porcelain is warmer than the real stone. That townhouse (was sold for more than $1 million so my brother was moving out) had a porcelain fake first floor but real stone in the baths upstairs. I could tell the difference right away. And everybody thought the porcelain was too cold to walk barefoot on. The bath floors were comfortable. Now, that could be because in California the first floor is usually laid on a concrete slab.

I have slate in my kitchen, love the look. NEVER looks dirty, it is cold (upstate NY), and my chairs rock and teeter a bit because of the uneveness of the stone.

I have had Mediterranean walnut travertine in my kitchen since January. It's unfilled, which is probably not the best choice for a kitchen floor, but it's beautiful. I grudgingly "settled" for travertine after not being able to get the reclaimed French terracotta tiles I wanted. I like it much more than I thought I would.

So far, it has been virtually maintenance free. I have throw rugs in front of the sink and stove, so that has protected it well. I vacuum it weekly or more and spot clean drips and spills. I'm surprised to say that I have yet to mop it, but it still looks great.

It is cold, but not unbearably so. Then again, we live in Florida, so a cold floor is a nice thing. It's quite hard, too, so the rugs do more than just protect the floor from messes. I think my legs would get very tired without the rugs. The one thing that has been dropped on it completely shattered.

I'm one of those who could not have been satisfied with porcelain. Although I have seen many beautiful porcelain tiles, I needed more variation than any of them provided. So far, I've been very happy with my travertine.

I have slate floors in my entire great room (kitchen, dining, living areas), down the hall, in a small bath, and in the laundry room.

It's pretty much indestructible, never looks dirty, has not stained at all, and looks better in my log home than "fake" slate would. I love the way it sparkles in the light.

The downsides:
cost of installation (not a DIY project)
uneven surface makes chairs wobble
mops tend to shred after a few uses
cold and hard

I have a marble floor from Daltile. They call it a tumbled, but it is not like a tumbled marble like I have on my backsplash. To me it just looks like really old marble that has almost a veined texture to it with worn edges. I don't really know how else to describe it. I have been really happy with it. Staining and temp of the floor have not been a problem at all. It is a really new product and it not even on the Daltile website.

I also have travertine in my master bath which I also like. Between the two I do prefer the marble.

Travertine in the kitchen as well. Could not have chosen a better material. I truly think travertine is the PERFECT material for flooring. easy to maintain, hides scratches, looks superb, no need to refinish, stands up to high traffic, and relatively cheap!!

Our former house came with large marble tiles in the entryway, halls, kitchen & breakfast area. From time to time, the marble needed to be repolished. The big pain was the grout: white, and in the kitchen, definitely stained. The grout had to be literally bleached or colored white by hand.

We have a lot of limestone floors in our current house, cut into large tiles & butted up close, so there are no visible grout lines to discolor.

Yes, stone is colder than other materials, but this can be an advantage in the southern states. (We're in Dallas, TX.) Stone is very beautiful & durable, which is why we chose it. Probably the biggest disadvantage (besides cost) is that anything dropped on it is likely to break.

Thanks for all the responses and great pictures. The enthusiasm you all show reminds me a lot of the way I react when I see certain materials, this particular stone included. I LOVE the way it looks and feels. And I do love old, worn stone -- in fact I love most things that are old and worn!

You never know till you see it in your own house, so it's a bit of a plunge, but I think I might go for it.

Thanks!

Go for it! I also vote for travertine. I love it in my kitchen and through the entire first floor of the house. It feels much warmer that tile, is very easy to maintain once you seal it, and looks so much more beautiful than tile made to look like stone. It is one of the few decisions in my extensive house remodel that I absolutely do not regret. Yes, it and its installation costs much more than tile but ultimately, it is worth every penny. Good luck and keep us posted!

Holligator - I "grudgingly" went with the travertine too because I could not find the right hardwood to match the existing floors in the rest of the house. Some decisions turn out better than you expect (but they are rare :-))

I'll cast my vote for the natural stone over ceramic. We used two types of limestone in our house, one in the kitchen and one in the bathrooms. We think it is warmer than ceramic and the fact that it is a little softer makes it easier on the feet as well. It's been nearly a year and half now with no issues concerning cleaning or staining.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Ken, are your grout lines easy to keep clean? That's my main concern.

Interesting that some of you say stone is warmer than porcelain. Ours is colder, but maybe it has to do with other factors, like where the room is. The marble I'm looking at isn't as dark as the pics of travertine you all showed. So I fear dirt might show more... but I think I'll do it anyway. I don't often find something I like so much, and recent furniture purchases (some successful and others not so successful) have made me realize I should go with it when I do.

I debated between wood and stone and ended up going with a honed limestone. I love it. The color is called Sinai Gold, and has a bit of movement, so hides the dirt fairly well. I find it cool and not too hard and far prefer it to tile. I'm very happy with my choice.

We haven't had any issues with keeping the grout clean. We used an unsanded grout with some kind of polymer in it to resist stains, I can't remember the brand. We chose a color close to the darkest color of the tile as well so that it wouldn't be too light. There aren't many concerns with the tile in the bathrooms.

The kitchen pic is after a year and a half, and still looks like new.

Ken

We went with 16"x24" limestone and really love it. We sealed it and it is very easy to clean. It is a "washed" finish, in between honed and polished.

Here is a picture:

I went with travertine 11 years ago - front entry hall, kitchen, back entry. I have 1952 oil impregnated hardwood floors in LR & DR. I hate house cleaning and being single, working full time, I do all the snowblowing and gardening, etc. I wanted the easiest flooring that would take abuse, not have to be refinished at any time (traffic patterns) and easy to clean (vinegar & water.) It was the best decision I ever made! In the winter, I just get runners at HD for the front hall (6') and just inside garage/kitchen door (3') to catch winter stuff.....next year I take the 6' section and put it on the floor in the garage (side I walk from car to kitchen door) and get new one for inside the house.

I was advised not to seal the grout. The tile place I got it from now has a product (Aqua Mix) specifically to clean the grout as needed. I did the worst areas 1-1/2 yr ago awaiting cervical disc surgery, and it still looks good.

Yes, it is sort of cool on bare feet in winter (lovely in summer!) but then I usually am wearing slippers in winter(mid CT.) Even barefoot it is not really uncomfortable - just wouldn't stand in one place a long time.

For me, it lived up to every need I have! No I don't have kids or animals but can see where this would make even easier maintenance and it is a one time cost.

itgranite... gorgeous floor. I don't even see grout lines... how'd you do that?

treeskate.. any pics? I'm going through the what kind of floor should I get thought process for a whole house remodel and just can't decide what to do. DH wants no part of anything that needs to be refinished/sanded/poly'd. I've gotten samples of cork, which I love, but they do need to be refinished. I have some high quality laminate samples and they may work but he's a fan of tile. My only problem with the tile is dealing with the grout. We have whiteish/gray tile in our current home and I can't stain the way the grout looks... dingy/gray/dirty. If I could get a tile of any kind and not have to deal with a grout issue I'd go with tile. Personally, I'd rather deal with having a floor needing to be repolyed (word?) then cleaning an entire living area of grout. We're going to need it for all the living space to include the kitchen so it's alot of space. We live in South Florida so hardwood is not a good option... too humid.

Ken, another question: Was your grout an epoxy grout?

So many of you love your travertine; what is it that you like? I'm wondering if the qualities you like would apply to the marble I'm considering. If it's the color, the marble is a little lighter than the lightest travertine shown above, and is supposedly harder than travertine.

I live in NYS, so cold will be an issue. But I've decided we'll just have to get used to wearing slippers. Not a big deal. I'm heartened that the positive feedback keeps rolling in!

Thanks.

remodelfla - Thanks for the compliment. We went with a tight joint 1/16" and chose a grout color which matched the limestone. The grout was sealed with same sealer used on the limestone, 511 porous plus. We have had many spills of various sauces and everything cleaned up easily without any staining.

I've been looking and looking and looking for a slate look porcelain with no real success. Some are stonier than others, but none can really 'pass' for stone.

But porcelain is as close to a maintenence and worry free floor as you'll ever find. Still a very legitimate choice if you are willing to give up just a little look for a little less care.

For me, the ones that try the hardest with texture usually fail the worst because of patterns or colors that repeat far too often.

For a while, I was considering Crossville's 'Chemistry'-- a raw, rustic looking tile that doesn't try to be anything other than tile: its actually quite refreshing. Worth a look for any readers of this thread looking for something different.

dallgower--can you give me the name of your white marble by Daltile? Does it have a texture or is it smooth (slippery). I have dogs to consider. What counter did you use with it & your marble backsplash? Do you have a pic of everything together?

egganddart49 - the brand of the grout is Polyblend. It is an unsanded polymer modified grout. There is no mention of epoxy on the label. There is an additive called moldblock or something like that. Our grout lines are 1/8" wide.

The grout was sealed along with the tile. I don't have that container anymore so I don't recall the brand. But it was a color enhancer/sealer that has been discussed on the flooring forum here.

Slate in most of our downstairs, including the kitchen. For us, it was a DIY project, and not that hard (kind of physically demanding, in terms of weight of the materials, etc., but not difficult to get a good result). We're in Alabama, so cold isn't a problem, although I can say it's warmer than ceramic tile.

In a previous house, we had tile that looked like slate (also DIY). We liked it fine then, but I like this better. I think it's largely a matter of taste, though. I don't think you can go really wrong either way.

egganddart- FWIW I highly recommend that you consider installing some sort of radiant floor heat under your tile to prevent the floor from becoming too cold during the winter months. We have travertine tile in our kitchen and the one thing that my husband couldn't stand was the cold floor in the winter. We will be having radiant floor heat installed throughout our entire first floor this fall but there are many products available to you to install at the time you place your new flooring.

I have travertine in my master bath, one guest bath, and fireplace surround. I have porcelain in three other baths, a salon, and laundry room. Carpet is in all bedrooms and LR. Wood floors are in an 8'x 25' entry, front and back halls, dining room, and eat in kitchen. I love wood floors. However, knowing what I now know, I would have preferred travertine in all baths and where all wood is now, and wood where all carpet is now.

I have walnut travertine and it's installed so beautifully and feels like silk under foot. I have mine filled, so nothing's going to get into any crevices. It gives such character and visual warmth to a home.

In the bath room,it has helped me 'relax'. How so? Well, I have always had white tile in bathrooms because it's clean looking and you can really tell if there's any cleaning or maintenance necessary. With travertine, I have to stare at the floor or just vacuum to see any of my husband's leg hair. I use to work myself silly in other homes. This one, I just vacuum and mop twice a week. I don't have to vac every single day because I see his hair. (He's a dark haired man that just 'sheds'. I hate it. He's always been this way.) TRAVERTINE has given me some sanity. I'm just anal about cleanliness.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click on thumbnail photos to enlarge

everyone's travertine is beautiful.

doingygirl, I should look into it, but I think it'd have to be electric (no room for pipes under floor) and I'm afraid it'll be expensive to keep heated.