Travertine as countertop?

["Charles Kibby" <ckibby@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Philippe:  Travertine is approaching the category of "the worst stone one
could choose for a countertop material".  As John says, it's calcareous and
therefore subject to etching from acid-based materials such as lemon juice,
orange juice, or even Coke (carbolic acid).  Most travertines are of the
sedimentary type (formed by deposition in layers on ancient seabeds) rather
than the precipitate variety (as in limestone caves, stalactites, and all
that).  Consequently, they have a wide range of density in the base
material, and can be very absorbent or very resistant to absorption,
depending on the area of the stone one chooses to analyze.  The common
factor with travertines ( among the more common variety of limestones on the
planet ) is the voids formed during the original formation process due to
carbon dioxide bubbles.   These voids are usually filled with either
polyester resin or cementitious fill material in the factory to minimize the
dirt-trapping potential of the natural material, but there is always the
latent ability of the stone to trap or aborb dirt, or any other foreign
material.

You can make lovely lovely sculptures out of this material (Mussolini's
minions did a great job of this at the Milan train station) and it is
reasonably resistant to abrasion (making it a good flooring material)but you
will not be a happy chappy if you use this stuff for your countertops.

Stick with honed marble (a true metamorphic stone) and you won't regret it.

Good Luck,
Chaz