— Natural stone · Bayswater, Melbourne
Travertine.
Travertine and limestone, cut and installed from our Bayswater workshop. The softest and warmest of the natural stones, for people who want a surface that looks like it has always been there.
Living with travertine and limestone
Hardness
The softest stones we cut. They mark and wear with use, and that patina is why people choose them.
Acids and stains
Lemon, wine and vinegar etch them, like marble. They are porous, so seal them and wipe spills when they happen.
Sealing
Yes, and more often than marble. At install and then regularly. Water that sinks in rather than beading is the sign to reseal.
Heat
A warm pan is fine. Keep a hot pan off it.
Filled or unfilled
Travertine has natural holes. Filled travertine has them grouted flush, which is what a benchtop wants. Unfilled leaves them open, which suits a wall or a fireplace, not a surface you wipe.
In the workshop
Soft and fast on the saw, quick to profile and hone. Vein-cut shows the layers as long lines, cross-cut as a cloudy pattern. We cut both, and fill the holes flush for a surface you wipe.
The names people ask for
Vein-cut travertine
Cut along the bed, so the layers run as long lines. Jurassic vein-cut is on our floor.
Cross-cut travertine
Cut across the bed, for the classic cloudy pattern.
Tundra Grey limestone
Grey with soft fossil marks. Honed, it reads like a quiet marble.
A vein-cut, filled travertine slab on our floor, and where it goes. The layers run as long lines, and the filling makes it a surface you can wipe.
See how your pieces are laid out on the slab →
Tundra Grey limestone, and a honed limestone top. Honed suits soft stone: it hides the small marks polished would show.
See the edge profiles in 3D →
— 03 · Against the others
Travertine against the other stones
Travertine and limestone are natural stone at the soft end of the range. Beside them, the three man-made slabs: what each is, and where it does better or worse.
Travertine and limestone
Limestone laid down by water, with the holes to prove it. The softest and warmest natural stones we cut, filled flush for a surface and left open for a wall.
In the workshop
Soft and fast on the saw, quick to profile and hone. Vein-cut shows the layers as long lines, cross-cut as a cloudy pattern. We cut both.
Where each one differs from travertine and limestone: green is better, red is worse.
Porcelain Large-format porcelain slabs
A large-format ceramic slab, fired from clay and minerals, with the pattern printed on the face. Thin, light and colour-fast.
Sintered stone Smartstone · Dekton · Neolith · Lapitec
Natural minerals pressed and fired into a dense slab with no resin, coloured through the body. Made for heat, sun and hard use.
Reconstituted stone Quartz-look engineered surfaces, zero-silica
Crushed mineral bound in resin and cured into a uniform slab. The same colour and pattern every time. Today's Australian slabs are zero-silica.
— 04 · Before you buy
The questions people type before they buy travertine
01Is travertine good for a kitchen benchtop?
For people who want a surface that ages, yes, filled and sealed. It marks, etches and wears with use. If you want a benchtop that looks the same in ten years, porcelain or granite is the honest answer.
02Travertine benchtop pros and cons
For: the warmest colour of any stone, soft to the hand, quick to cut and repair, and one of the less costly natural stones. Against: soft, porous, etches with lemon and wine, and wants sealing more often than marble.
03Filled or unfilled travertine?
Filled for any surface you wipe: benchtops, vanities, tables. Unfilled for walls and fireplaces, where the open holes are the look.
04Does travertine need sealing?
Yes, at install and then regularly, because travertine is the most porous stone we cut. Reseal when water sinks in instead of beading.
05How do you care for a limestone benchtop?
Seal it, wipe spills when they happen, keep lemon and vinegar off it, and use a pH-neutral stone cleaner. Etch marks can be honed out.
06What does a travertine benchtop cost?
Usually one of the less costly natural stones for the slab, and the fabrication is quick. The number of slabs, the edge and the cutouts set the price. We show them on your slab layout, not on a rate card.
07Travertine vs marble
Both soft, both etch, both age. Travertine is warmer in colour, more porous, and has the holes. Marble has the veining. Travertine is usually the less costly slab.
— 05 · Edges, thickness, fluting
What we can do with a travertine slab
Soft stone takes every profile we cut and carves easily, so fluting and reeding suit it. Honed finishes suit it best. Try each edge on a travertine sample in 3D, then open a live quote.