Travertine outside?

[lcjohno]

Hi all,
A mate of mine wants his outside step tiling and is really keen on travertine. Do you think it will be ok outside, I'm not sure and said I'd find out. I would have thought its a bit soft to last outside, is it ok with high grade trav?
Your thoughts appreciated, cheers.

 

[White Room]

Personally, no..

 

[DHTiling]

You could use Travertine pavers... much thicker and less chance of damage with frost..

 

[Ajax123]

Nope. Too soft so would fail under extremes of weather IMO

 

[lcjohno]

I thought it would be to soft, he wants a look of stone like travertine, any ideas on something good to use? Maybe you guys have done one before you might have pictures of.
I was just going to look for a stone effect porcelain.?
I'll get a picture of the step tomorrow and post it on here and see what you guys might do with it. Cheers.

 

[Tile Marble Granite]

Slate or quarry tile would be best

 

[Spud]

I agree with Dave,travertine can be used outside but it would need to be minimum 30mm thick

 

[Topshop]

One thing that seriously effects travertine or any other natural stone outside is what it is set on. Most installers put it onto a cement base and do not put a moisture barrier between the ground and the cement so moisture migrates into the stone from below the concrete.

The right way to do it is put down a barrier(heavy plastic sheet), pour cement, install tile, seal the heck out of it with a UV stable sealer.

A denser (no voids) travertine would be best to avoid water settling into pockets, freezing, and breaking apart the stone. Most travertine is not filled with UV stable products and it may be difficult to find a stone that is free of voids.

 

[Tony73]

I thought it would be to soft, he wants a look of stone like travertine, any ideas on something good to use? Maybe you guys have done one before you might have pictures of.
I was just going to look for a stone effect porcelain.?
I'll get a picture of the step tomorrow and post it on here and see what you guys might do with it. Cheers.

correct , you could use travertine effect porcelain or portland, or york stone

 

[RealEarth]

he could use travertine mosaics.. i've used them on some steps leading off my patio and they've been down about 6 years with no issues of perishing at all. Easier to cut to size and i just jet wash mine a couple of times a year to freshen them up.

 

[PHG Dave]

A good quality travertine is fine for outside.
When i first looked at travertine for outside i was sceptical that it would withstand water freezing in the holes so i tried an experiment of my own. I took a number of pieces of travertine in both 30mm thick pavers and 12mm tiles, soaked them in water and then put them in a freezer. I even topped up the holes with water and then left them for a couple of days to freeze nicely before taking them out to thaw out.
I carried out this freeze/thaw cycle several times and still no damage to the Trav.
The pieces, including the 12mm versions have been sat outside in my garden for the last 4+ years and are still as solid as ever!

 

[Ajax123]

Then I withdraw my comment. Sounds pretty conclusive to me. To be considered suitable for outside it has to go through a certain number of freeze thaw cycles. It used to be fifty for concrete. not sure if that changed with the latest standards.