Are travertine patios worth it?

[britishboy7]

We have 2 levels of old patio we plan to replace in the spring, and I've seen a few photos online of travertine patios, and love the clean lines and almost marble effect of the tiles. For every 5 or 6 people I've spoke to, Ive had 7 or 8 different opinions, even asking in the local tile warehouses. Some say dont do it, others say do but you need at least 30mm thick slabs and they need treating regularly, and others say they are prone to cracking/breaking when laying, walking on them or during the winter months.

Any advice please guys? Have any of you ever laid or worked with travertine for a patio?

Or is there a similar alternative please?

 

[r896neo]

Absolutely do not use a tile supplier!! Chances are the guy who supplies them travertine tiles offered them a cheap few crates of some paving to try and flog and they have no idea of its providence, quality or even how to lay it. There are exceptions of course but i would steer well clear. Only use someone specialising in supplying stone paving.

They get very dirty very fast, will be almost impossible to keep clean if you are in any shade or have overhanging trees.

On a very sunny open site they can work but like any sawen paving will need sealed with a quality sealer which could add 300 quid and up depending on size. Quality issues means use a decent supplier but there is no reason they should be breaking unless badly installed or terrible quality stone. Contact someone like london stone for an honest opinion and also they can advise on similar alternatives.

An alternative would be porcelain paving which is quite a new phenomenon but pretty bullet proof. Porcelain is super hard which mean no water absorption which means it stays cleaner and or is easier to clean. You really should use someone who has installed it before though as its not as straightforward as normal stone flags because it has so low porosity it needs bonded with a slurry primer in most cases.

Contact londonstone or similar paving specific merchants.