Properly Installing Travertine In A Shower; Avoid Mold!
I’m having 12 x 12 travertine (honed, light beige) installed in the bathroom in the shower and back of tub. I noticed that they are not using spacers between the tiles but have them but up against each other. Is that the standard way of doing it or are they taking the lazy way to install? What is the best way to install to insure that there will not be any leaks later on?
Leta D.
Hello Leta,
For shower walls, stone tile, like travertine, should have a minimum joint of 1/16″. If there is no joint space, the grout will not hold in the joints. For joint that are 1/8″ or smaller, non-sanded grout should be used and thoroughly push into the joint with a grout float. Wider joints require sanded grout.
On a vertical surface, I don’t see how spacers can be avoided because the weight of the tile will cause the tile to sag into the piece below. What you described sounds like a problem to me and I don’t see how the installer can explain to you how grout will be pushed into the seam. Travertine tile usually has a little bevel along the edges. It is not acceptable to grout the bevel only because this grout fall out very soon.
If there is no grout in the seam, water will penetrate and get under the surface. This can cause hazardous mold, discoloring and eventual failure of the tile adhesion. You need a 1/16″ spacer between the tiles.
Best wishes
August 27th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I have a client that has a 3′ x 3′ travertine showerpan that was installed in 1971. There are two 4″ hairline cracks that appear in the surface away from the drain. There has been noticable water damage outside the shower and the plywood floor from beneath sugests that the water has been setting on the surface of the subfloor. Are there ways to reseal the stone properly, or should spend looking elsewhere (shower valve, etc.)?