poor quality travertine

I recently had installed what I thought would be beautiful travertine 18 x 18 tile in my master bath. The marble has been thoroughly cleaned and still looks terrible with cloudy areas, shiny areas, etc. within the same tile. The company I purchased it from said it is their tile, not the installer and that it needs to be rehoned. Is it possible to do that after it is installed? Thanks much.

 

Dear Jeanne:

I would like to slightly correct your subject line from, “poor quality travertine,” into, more appropriately, “poor-quality finish on travertine.” Hopefully the stone is good.

 

“ The company I purchased it from said it is their tile, not the installer ”

 

They're absolutely right. They are also right to say that they need to be re-honed.

 

“ Is it possible to do that after it is installed? ”

 

Not only is it possible, but it is always highly recommended. The finish that you will get by having your floor honed after installation with a good quality honing-powder (not diamond pads; insist on a honing-powder) is unmatchable and much better than factory hone-finish.

The question is: who should be paying for that?...

 

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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Ciao and good luck,

Mauri zio Bertoli

 

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