Tumble travertine backsplash grouting while keeping the holes open

Dear Seja:

They may be lovely-looking, but you don't want to keep those holes open in a kitchen. You can keep them open only when the unfilled travertine is installed outdoors.

If you like the way the holes look, my strong recommendation is to fill them before installation – tile by tiles – with clear latex-based silicon caulking. It will a time-consuming proposition, but in that way you would be getting three birds with one stone: solve the sanitary issue that you would have with the open holes; still see the holes; don't worry about the grout possibly going inside them!

Clever, huh… J

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is – as it should be intuitive – vastly more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about routine care from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at:   http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/helpful_hints.htm , you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay-per-download format in our Educational Literature section at:   http://www.mbstone.com/literature/literature.htm .  

And remember, every single penny of the cost of the literature will be used to support this site and its cause: your cause.

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Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli