# Just bought a house with Travertine floors. Can the marble be refinished? Cost?



## Waterfowler (Sep 12, 2009)

I just bought a nice clean house built in 98 but had Travertine floors put in 2006. The floors are in beautiful shape now but the thing is I will be renting it out to my sister and my little nephews. I am pretty much resigned to the fact that the floors are going to get stained and scratched all to hell in the next few years. My question is, when they move out how much am I looking at to refinish about 1600 square feet of the marble? And can refinishing really erase most stains and scratches, bringing it to it's former beauty?

Also the Travertine looks polished, does it still need to be sealed? If so can you recommend a great sealer, especially for the money?


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

It should definitely be sealed NOW. Preferably (in this case) USING A COMMERCIAL STONE SEALER and then adding a few sacrificial applications of floor wax that can be renewed or stripped later.

As far as "what sealer" and "how much" it will cost...these are questions you must ask a local floor maintenance person. Call around your area and get some quotes and recommendations.

Yes, it can be refinished later but removing deep stains if it isn't sealed now may be very difficult.


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## Waterfowler (Sep 12, 2009)

Thanks for the input Bud. I plan on sealing it next weekend. They start moving in on the on the 27th or 28th. I think I will also take your advice and wax it too. Is there a certain amount of time you have to let the sealer cure before you wax it?


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Is there a certain amount of time you have to let the sealer cure before you wax it?


No real "set time" but the preceding applications must be thoroughly dry.

The wax must be compatible with the sealer.


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

You mentioned that you have travertine floors, then later you asked how to seal the marble. Travertine and marble are different stone, and require different sealant. You need to determine first of all whether you have travertine or marble, then you can decide what type of sealant to use. Certain travertine varieties are very soft, and are very difficult to seal, whereas most marble varieties are harder and somewhat easier to seal.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

The makers of stone floor sealers would disagree.


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## Waterfowler (Sep 12, 2009)

Daniel Holzman said:


> You mentioned that you have travertine floors, then later you asked how to seal the marble. Travertine and marble are different stone, and require different sealant. You need to determine first of all whether you have travertine or marble, then you can decide what type of sealant to use. Certain travertine varieties are very soft, and are very difficult to seal, whereas most marble varieties are harder and somewhat easier to seal.


Sorry when I googled Travertine, I kept seeing the reference "Travertine marble". The stone is supposed to be Travertine, at least that was what was stated in the MLS before I bought it. I have only been in the house twice, I really have no idea what it really is other than it's a very nice looking polished tile floor. Seems like an expensive add-on for a 250k house(that don't get you much in most parts of California).


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

Also, and on top of finding out if it is marble or travertine, find out if it has a honed or polished finish because that may indicate whether sealing is even possible. One is like a mirror and one like satin...


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Doesn't matter in this case. It will take a sealer to some degree. Depends on what has been done to it in the past. Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

_"Doesn't matter in this case"_

Yeah, I agree it doesn't matter...because in this case, if the poster claims it is polished travertine, then nothing will stain it anyhow making any sealer application redundant. 

And the point made about different stones requiring different sealers is interesting; don't know if I'd go that far but it is true that different chemical technologies apply to some stones better than others. Some sealers have a technology that is more for lower absorbency stones, like the marbles and some sealers are more for granites with higher absorbencies...

And to top it off, 'travertine' is sold by itself or sold as a "marble" but it's sometimes called a "limestone", isn't it...? :huh:


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Yeah, I agree it doesn't matter...because in this case, if the poster claims it is polished travertine, then nothing will stain it anyhow making any sealer application redundant.


Problem is trusting the process. Polished stone should have tighter pores simply because the finish is more refined and therefore theoretically tighter. Prior to polishing, sealers and waxes are sometimes applied to the stone, not always. You can't rely on that having been done. All stones can be stained to some degree if the right liquid is applied to it and left to penetrate.

Sealers ARE NOT stain-proofers. Sealers are maintenance aides, meaning they will allow one the time needed to clean up a spill. Most of today's sealers are also "vapor transmissive". What does that tell you?



> And the point made about different stones requiring different sealers is interesting; don't know if I'd go that far but it is true that different chemical technologies apply to some stones better than others.


Agreed.



> Some sealers have a technology that is more for lower absorbency stones,...like the marbles and some sealers are more for granites with higher absorbencies...


There is some truth to that. But it is just the opposite. Marble is much much softer than granite and therefore more at risk. Granite (real granite) is very dense and would in most cases require a sealer of very low viscosity. Granites such as "Absolute Black" are so dense they won't take any kind of a sealer.

We are talking penetrating sealers. Then there are the topical sealers that produce a coating and are intended to stay on the surface.



> And to top it off, 'travertine' is sold by itself or sold as a "marble" but it's sometimes called a "limestone", isn't it...?


It may be called limestone by those that don't know, but limestone is a different animal all together.


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

_"Granite (real granite) is very dense and would in most cases require a sealer of very high viscosity"_​Bud, you bring up a question: what relation do you perceive there to be in your experience, between viscosity of a sealer and its applicability?


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Thanks for drawing my attention to my error. I couldn't think of another word to convey what I was trying to say and then I blew it.....

I should have said:

_



"Granite (real granite) is very dense and would in most cases require a sealer of very low viscosity"

Click to expand...

_


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

OK that makes sense...I think of 'viscosity' as "thickness" of a solution. A consomme soup versus a cream soup; 99-cent shampoo versus Pantene. Measured with reference to water at room temperature which is something like 72 dynes/cm sq. Some of the better surface active agents can get down to 27 dynes/cm sq - and these are used in sealers.

Is this what you are referring to, Bud, water-based vs solvent-based?


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

stop it - you guys're making my hair hurt :laughing: polished surfaces don't need sealers IF they're well polished (home depot floors're ' honed ' meaning the process has gotten prostituted from what was originally spec'd ( there's always someone who can do it cheaper ),,, waxes're sacrificial protection + providing ' grip ',,, travertine ( or fill'd marble ) has had german cement applied to fill the natural fissures that God left in the marble.

when my bride, nagzilla, express'd her wish for fancy granite c-tops, it was interesting to hear the specialist (salesman) say we'd have to SEAL the granite occasionally,,, reinforced my belief few one used good stone anymore as the prices're high & consumers balk,,, we made cemetery monuments which're sometimes polished,,, 100yrs later, my grandfather's work's finishes're still good while great-GREAT-grandfather's could use some repolishing,,, remind me to tell him :whistling2:


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## Waterfowler (Sep 12, 2009)

I now have another dilemma. I went to the tile store this weekend to get the sealer, and they asked me if I wanted a water based or solvent based sealer. I have no clue what it is and neither does the previous owner, as he had it professionally done. But he did leave behind a small tupperware container full of maybe a quart of what ever sealer the professionals used. 

Any way of determining whether I have a water based or solvent based sealer? Water still beads on the surface but I'd like to do it again.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

What does the sealer in the container look like? Is it clear like water or does it look like milk? Does it have an odor, if so how strong, what type of odor?

Use a little in an unconspicuous location and observe what happens. Does it coat thoroughly when spread? Does it soak in right away? Does it shed and bead and fish-eye?:huh:


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## Waterfowler (Sep 12, 2009)

Bud Cline said:


> What does the sealer in the container look like? Is it clear like water or does it look like milk? Does it have an odor, if so how strong, what type of odor?
> 
> Use a little in an unconspicuous location and observe what happens. Does it coat thoroughly when spread? Does it soak in right away? Does it shed and bead and fish-eye?:huh:


It looks like olive oil, it's not milky or opaque at all. I'll try to get over there to take a "wiff" of the stuff tomorrow and put a small sample in the laundry room next to the washer and dryer, to see what that does. Then I will get back to you.


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