A Travertine Floor With Gusto!
I always say there’s tile for any personality. You can keep it plain and simple, or go wild with different colors or textures. This tile floor is made up of some beautiful travertine tiles of many diverse colors. No two are alike! I think natural stone tiles are some of the most beautiful tile because they are so different and unique.
You can see the amazing difference the before and after pictures above. I went over the old vinyl floor with a layer of 1/4″ Hardibacker cementboard and then installed the tile. The old shower enclosure was replaced with a completely new tile shower (this post) and the whirlpool tub was ripped out to make room for a claw foot tub that will be installed later.
There are a few tricks to installing tile like this, especially when they are so porous as these are. For example, in order for the tiles to be fully set in the thinset mortar it’s often best to ‘back butter’ the individual tiles before laying them. This means that I turned the tile over and filled all the tiny holes with mortar before I set it in place. If I didn’t do this, there’s a greater chance of on of those small cavities not being supported well and it is likely to crack as soon as some weight is applied (like a high-heeled shoe for instance).
It’s also more work to grout these tiles because you have to make sure you fill all those tine holes with grout. Without grout, these depressions will fill with dirt and become a nightmare to clean.
It’s just one of a plethora of design options when you consider tiling a bathroom floor, but it’s one that makes a statement and has an artistic look that captures your attention whenever you’re in the room.
