Travertine Hole Filling

Why travertine gets holes

Travertine forms with voids all the way through it. At the factory, tiles get filled at the surface and ground smooth. That only fills the holes that happened to be at the surface when the tile was cut. As years of feet, chair legs and vacuum wheels wear the top down, the thin bridges over the holes underneath break open.

So new holes aren't a defect, and they don't mean your installer did something wrong. It's just what travertine does.

How I fill them

• Clean out the holes. Dirt, old crumbling filler and soap residue come out first, or the new fill won't stick.
• Match the color. I tint the filler to blend with your stone. Travertine isn't one color, so I usually mix a couple of shades for different tiles.
• Fill slightly proud. The filler goes in a little above the surface.
• Grind flush. Once it's cured, it gets ground level with the stone, usually as part of honing.
• Seal. The whole floor, filled spots included.

Indoor vs. outdoor fill

Inside, I typically use a resin-based filler that cures hard and polishes with the stone. Outside on pool decks and patios, the stone moves more with heat and gets wet constantly, so the fill choice is different. I'll explain what I'm using and why.

A few holes vs. a lot

If you've got a handful of open pits in one spot, that can be a small spot repair. If holes have opened across the whole floor, it makes more sense to fill everything and hone the floor so it all looks consistent. Text me a photo and I'll tell you which camp you're in.