From:
"John VanCamp" <jvcstnwrks@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>
Date:
Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:00:04 -0600
Subject:
Travertine as countertop?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Faraut Philippe" <pcf@--------------- >
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 10:10 AM
Subject: [stone] Travertine as countertop?
Quoted text begins.Hi everyone,
Does anybody know if Travertine makes a good kitchen
countertop? What
would the treatment be to prevent staining and wear?
Philippe Faraut
End of quote.
Hi Philippe
Travertine for a kitchen counter eh? OK, here goes.
Travertine is a very dense and non porous stone, so the
likelyhood of it sucking up spilled liquids is remote. However
it is full of little pits and voids which will fill up with all
sorts of garbage if not filled with traverfil or some such
animal first. Now for the biggie. Travertine is calcite. Same
same as marble and limestone. Calcitic stones react in a
negative way with acids, and your kitchen is full of them. Darn
near anything you spill is going to etch the surface of the
stone, and the higher the hone or polish, the more these etch
marks will stand out. Also, since it is calcite, it will
scratch and otherwise mark up. There are no sealers that will
prevent any of this from happening. About all you could do is
put some sort of acrilic top coat on it, and then you have a
plastic counter top instead of stone. And I don't think an
acrilic surface can be resurfaced like the stone can. (stripped
and reapplied-yes). If you can live with the stone etching and
earning a working patina over time, and live with the
possibility of the little pits and voids becoming breeding
ground for bacteria, then go for it. If on the other hand, you
need your kitchen counter to stay nice and shiny like the day it
was new, pick another type of stone (granite, diorite, gabbro,
laberadorite etc), or look at some of the new generation
engineered "quartz" surfaces (silestone, caesarstone, etc.)
Good luck to you
John VanCamp / JVC Stoneworks
- References
- message 00540: Travertine as countertop? - Faraut Philippe (28 Feb 2005)
- Previous by Thread: message 00542: Philippe teaching ? - Robin Putnam (28 Feb 2005)
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