Q.I recently had tumbled travertine placed in a shower and was told by the installer that once it was sealed it would be worry free. It also has larger grout lines - is this a problem? I had read that it can't be sealed in a shower or it will mold - is this true? They also placed a polished travertine on the entry way from my garage into the family room and it is all scrathed - they said once it was sealed it also would be worry free. Any comments? Thank you.

A. Wow-sealer saves the day again thank goodness for miracles in bottles or not.

I know you heard enough already so I will keep mine short.

Travertine is a great material and will do well in wet enviroments. Proper maintenance with stone safe cleaners

like mb-5 and mb-9 will keep your shower fine. If you use bar soap it will case soap scum you may wany to consider soft soaps they wont build up on surfaces. As far as the sealing of the walls in the shower stall I wouldnt do mine.

The reason is just plain logical and simple.

Travertine is a dense material and the walls are vertical so

gravity will pull the water down. If you dont have pasta and wine dinners in your shower what staining agents are you trying to prevent. As far as the shower floor it should be sloped to the drain. Hope I am making sense so far.

As far as mold because you sealed that makes no sense to me unless the installation is so poor that moisture is getting behind the stone. Then with sealer or no sealer you will get mold and possible spalling of the stone.(make sure all change of plane joints are properly caulked)

Almost done cause am watching the jets beat the colts!!

The entry way from the garage is a busy place right. Polished travertine is very beautiful but soft  as you have found out . You also found out sealers(impregnating ones) have only one purpose to fill the pores of a porous stone and prevent staining for a period of time. They dont stop abrasion.

What I would do if I had polished travertine where you have it is have it honed by a bona fide stone refinisher.

He or she will make your travertine look great by making the finish matte or flat. The stone will wear better and you will love it. Trust me on this we work on a lt of trav.

Its great stuff.

Find a pro at www.stoneandtilepros.com

Stu Rosen