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Just beautiful! Are you a pretty handy person? Did you have help? Im curious if this something my husband and I can do. I have a much smaller space to work with though. Great job. It looks great!

When I was in my twenty's I did tile and stone installation's in new homes. I still had all my water saws and equipment to do it. If you were just simply laying a patio square, It would be do-able with a little help. Where it gets time consuming is cutting all the radius. If you have any more questions, just ask.

How did your travertine pavers hold up? I am thinking of using them around my pool but am concerned. I also live in Michigan and am surprised how hard it is to find them and information on them. Thanks!

Kristin, looks as nice as the day I installed it. We had -30 a few times this winter and last winter was even worse. Very happy with travertine. The most important part for us northerners is the base material and drainage used when building a travertine deck.

You did a beautiful job; it looks gorgeous. We are literally tearing out our old patio as I write this. I am so excited to have the travertine put in; I know it was the right decision. Any suggestions as to the base material would be greatly appreciated. I am sadly all too familiar with -30 winters.

I used Ohio 9's or some call it 26A. It washed limestone crushed down to 1/4 to 3/8". You do not want any fines(sand, limestone dust) in your base material. The other thing that is important is the sub grade, make sure its well drained. I pitched my hole sub grade so in drained to one point and then put a drain tile in to take the water away. The min amount of base I used was 8" the more the better. Where are you getting your travertine from?

Thank you for your quick response and insights, they're very helpful. I will share them with my installer. We are getting our pavers from a distributer in Ohio. Not only does using it in Michigan seem to be a rarity at this point, any local places that could get it. required 5-10 week wait times for delivery.

I bought mine in Florida from Travertine Mart. I was really worried about quality, but ended up with beautifull pavers. If I remember right I got it for less then 3 bucks a sq foot. Nobody could touch that price around here. I shipped up about 1500sq feet and had about a grand in shipping. Good luck with your project, please post pics when done.

I looked at Travertine Mart as well. Their prices were REALLY good. I was hesitant to use them because I could not find anyone around here with any experience with the travertine in general, and simply got cold feet thinking theirs might be more for warmer climates. I thought their pavers were gorgeous. I ended up having to modify my original design as I could not find enough of the size I had intended to use. I'm glad to hear all was well on your end, your yard is my inspiration!!!

Patio looks great - I'm located in CT and we had our pool put in this fall. We would like to use travertine as well. Would you mind sharing the installation tips you received. In particular did you compact your base all the way to the top level or just screed the last inch. Also, were your radiuses a series of straight angled cuts? Thanks again for sharing.

The most important thing is getting the water of the sub grade. You want good drainage so there's no water laying on the sub grade. I used washed Ohio 9's as the stone for the pavers to sit on. Minimum of 8" deep. We did run the compacter over it, but it hardly compacted. Then we screed it, I put a slope away from the pool, but after watching heavy rains I don't think it's nessary. The water just runs between pavers to sub grade and out to the drain. I used a circular saw with a special blade to make all the radius cuts. Was very dusty have to wear a mask. I also used a matobo with a diamond blade for touching up my radius cuts. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Thanks for the insight - very helpful. I currently have 8" of processed down about 3" from sub grade so I'll finish off with washed stone/26A. What did you use for edge restraints and have you found it worked well?

I used curve rite aluminum low profile edging restraints. The stuff works great. It bends to make curves really nice, its all aluminum, I went with black. You really can't even see it once your landscaping is done. We have had two crazy cold winters in a row and its held up perfect. Very easy to install also.

love that travertine! I live in Lake Orion, Mi. Where are your photos from? Were you happy with Travertine Mart? I am thinking of flying down to Tampa to pick my stone from them. Thanks

Also, what color stone did you select? Is it ivory or something else? Thanks!

Pics are from my home in Monroe mi. Was very happy with travertine mart. Country classic was the name of my paver. This is the 4th season and pavers still look like the day I installed them. Installation is crucial in are northern climate.

As I have mentioned before I think your handscape is amazing. I had no idea you had it as long as you had. You have been so insightful on this topic, it really is so appreciated. We just went through our first Michigan winter (it was mild) with our stone. Curious, have you sealed your stone at any point and if so, what product did you use to do so? Thanks for your thoughts!

I did seal it, I have a salt water pool so I used DuPonts salt water sealer on the entire deck and the coping.

I literally joined only because of your post. I'm in Michigan as well (Howell) and am planning a new pool build for next spring. I want to use travertine but everyone I've called or researched on the internet claims it's not recommended for our climate because of its porosity. It's practically impossible to even get around here. It seems yours is holding up fine so far. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, you've given me confidence that this can be done with good outcomes! This will be a DIY project for me and I wonder if you would mind if I corresponded with you directly via e-mail to be able to ask you any detailed questions I might have throughout the process. Is there a way to private message here? Thanks again!

edit: Duh, just noticed the email link at the top!

Joe, I ran into the same problems, not much info on the subject in our area. Ive had a few coping pavers that got hairline cracks in them over the course of last three winters. The one thing that Ive noticed, is only one color of paver that has done this. I believe it's just a little softer travertine then the others, other then that it's holding up very well. You can email me kylekamprath@hotmail. Com

Calhoon beautiful pool. Thank you for posting this . I spent nearly a year planning our pool and wanted to have travertine. I recently finished mine in Indiana and used country classic 1750 SQ ft. its only been down 60 days and its seems likes its deteriorating. It has many holes which I know is common . but i have got these white squiggles which are starting to flake off the stone and actually looks like the stone is falling apart. I cannot find anyone online that is knowledgeable about this product. My PB bought and subed out the install. Install is great. Do you have any contacts that might be able to help with this?

Notice the faint white lines . that is stone starting to flake off . Its in 80 % of the tile and wasn't noticeable until after about 60 days and 4 inches of rain in one week.

Anyone that can help would be so appreciated. I am so sick over this. BTW the tile came from Stone mart AKA travertine warehouse.

Did you seal it? Is your pool a salt water pool? I have had some flaking of some of the stones, but nothing to severe. Also where did you get your stone? I'm going on 4th season. I sealed it again this year with DuPont salt water sealer. I think i might do it every other year. Your pool looks beautiful!

thx for reply . the pavers came from Stone mart in Tampa. no I haven't sealed it. we don't have a salt pool. I'm really concerned the pavers are dissolving. I'm shocked I can't seem to find any info online about this...
I've posted several places and no help ....

I would highly recommend you seal it ASAP. I have noticed on some of my stones, seems like they have softer stone mixed in with the travertine, almost like a marble material. That's the stuff I've noticed flaking off on mine. Me personally I think it just adds to the uniqueness of the stone. I talked to a guy that all he does is work with real stone. He said you do have to watch the quality of your travertine. I told him where I purchased mine and he said it can be hit or miss from there. Made me a little nervous. Have you contacted travertine mart? They were always helpfull when I had questions. Also I noticed after sealing mine water actually beads up on the stone, just like a waxed car. If you read about real stone around pools you will find lots of flaking issues, I believe it's mostly with salt water pools. Hope this helps, keep us posted what you find out.

Hello calhoun9001 - I am about to install a travertine (1-1/4" thick) patio in southern Ohio. Perhaps this was a mistake, but I have a compacted sub-base of chips-and-dust (411), since I am used to brick installs. I was about to use a 1" setting bed of concrete sand, but that might also be a mistake? Can I ask two questions - should I use the washed limestone 9s for the setting bed (I only have another inch to rise before the pavers need to go down)? and what was your paver spacing/joint filler? Thank you for your help.

I used Ohio 9's to set the pavers on. On one end of the deck I had about 8" of stone and on the other end almost two feet. The reason for this was that the sub grade was pitched so the water ran through the pavers and stone, then the pitched sub grade took the water away from the patio. The number one thing is to have 0 fines in your base material, anything that will hold water under the pavers. My pavers have nothing for filler between the joints. The pavers simply butt to each other. Hope this helps.

Yes, this helps - thank you for a fast reply.. So I have my base pitched at least 1" per 8' for drainage, but I do have fines in my base (25 tons of base already down and compacted, so I am committed). I guess I'll have to use as much washed gravel as I can for a setting bed and hope for the best. So no problem with butting them with no gap? I like that better, but thought I'd need to account for movement due to freeze.

When I say sub grade this would be the virgin ground that your setting your base material on. The sub grade should be pitched so no water settles there. In the winter anywhere water is being held it's going to freeze and expand. Also I did pitch my pavers for water runoff, but after watching heavy rain on them it was a waste of time. The water runs between the pavers and through my base so fast, it never gets a chance to build up. You'll be happy with them just butted together. I just hope your base doesn't hold a lot moisture. Good luck!

Thank you. I pitched my base since it contained fines and I was compacting it, and my sub-grade is pitched as well, just not nearly as much as yours. I think I'll need some luck, and being a bit more south will have to do.

One more question if you don't mind... Was your base aggregate jagged or smooth? I was just at the quarry checking out gravel. They have gravel #9 (not limestone), very similar to pea gravel, but smaller (1/4"). It is washed and smooth, not jagged like crushed limestone tends to be. Does that sound like what you used? All they had in the limestone category that was washed was #8 (3/8").

Mine was crushed limestone 3/8 and smaller washed. The key is you want something that is almost totally compacted when it comes of the shovel.

Calhoun,

Your inspiring a lot of people with your beautiful pool deck. Does it still look good after all these years? Any problems?

Thanks,

Joe

I'd love to see your deck now too! Beautiful! We're about to pull the trigger on Travertine but a bit wary of sealing as that's supposedly makes it slippery.

Sorry havent looked at this thread in a long time. The pool and patio still looks great I have had a few coping stones break due to high water in the winter from ice. Also has some of the stones have some stone flaking. Im still very happy I went this route over concrete. Few pictures from tonight.